Content creation, distribution, interaction, and monitoring system

ABSTRACT

A system for managing an end-user&#39;s request for information and entertainment. This information can be retrieved using a kiosk with a computer, using software over the Internet with a hardwired computer-like device, or using software with a wireless handheld device. Applications include any areas including commercial, industrial, and government where groups of people congregate such as trade shows, retail stores, restaurants, offices, manufacturing plants, and governmental buildings. The system provides both audio and text information and entertainment from a plurality of sources. These sources include information and entertainment from the local environment or ‘on-site’ information, and from a remote environment. These locations can also retrieve information from the end-user. This information can be product feedback, customer service opinions, product information requests, or the like.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This divisional application claims priority to non-provisionalapplication Ser. No. 10/538,698, filed Jun. 10, 2005, PCT applicationPCT/US2003/39237, filed Dec. 10, 2003, and provisional application No.60/432,808, filed Dec. 10, 2002.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to content creation, distribution,interaction, and monitoring and, more particularly, to content creation,distribution, interaction, and monitoring along a supply chain thatallows direct dialog between all parties in a supply chain and theend-consumer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Product manufacturers struggle to educate potential buyers about theirproduct's benefits through various means. Their success if oftendependent on printed material or inexperienced sales staff. This problemextends along the entire supply chain from inventor, manufacturer,marketers, resellers, retailers, and ultimately the end-consumer.Retailers are among the largest employers in the United States and spendenormous sums of money training new staff, yet they experience largeemployee turnover. With thousands of product suppliers pouring outthousands of new products, retailers often become overwhelmed whenconsumers demand better and faster service. In addition, shoppers havelittle feedback opportunities in what products, services, and/oremployees they like or dislike.

Recently a wide range of interactive devices have been developed toprovide information to consumers. These interactive devices include, forexample, computers connected to various computer online services,interactive kiosks, interactive television systems, wirelesscommunication systems and the like. These systems are designed toprovide a wide variety of information which may be specific toparticular products that the customer is interested in or alternatively,may have a wider scope and relate to various services or informationabout places and events which may be of interest to the user.

Most often the information provided to the customer may be obtained overthe Internet and is usually information related to a particular productor similar such products that are available in a particular local or byway of shopping utilizing a website. The information provided to theconsumer may be in a form to be utilized on the consumer's personalcomputer (PC) or a handheld device such as a cellular phone or apersonal digital assistant (PDA).

Various prior art patents disclose systems of the type above referred toand those which appear to Applicants' to be most pertinent are disclosedbelow.

PRIOR ART

U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,548 to E. Gottsman et al., entitled “System, Methodand Article of Manufacture for Advanced Mobile Bargain Shopping,” isdirected to a system and method for facilitating WWW-based comparisonshopping in non-web retail environments. A wireless transceiver withInternet Protocol capability is combined with a miniature barcodereader, so that a user can transmit a definitive product identifier codeto a remote server that then queries supplier websites to findavailability, price, and shipping information.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,956 to D. D. Hollenberg, entitled “SituationInformation System,” is directed to a wireless system for providingtime-critical situation information about places and events to people invehicles equipped with a computer and a Global Positioning System (GPS)receiver. Sources of information are databases of local information andinformation from other users. FIGS. 1 and 2 show, respectively, the maincomponents of such a system for a physically defined area such as ashopping area, and a basic read-out device with graphical displayshowing a retail store floorplan.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,015 to W. C. DeTemple et al., entitled “RemoteElectronic Information Display Systems for Retail Facility,” is directedto a wireless system for communicating between an on-site computer andlocations in the aisles of a retail facility. A hard-wired grid,preferably infrared, connects the computer to transceivers located inzones throughout the facility. The transceivers establish a wirelesslink to the locations that may be fixed information display terminalssuch as price-displaying shelf tags of shopping carts or baskets.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,811 to P. D. Angles et al., entitled “System andMethod for Delivering Customized Advertisements Within InteractiveCommunication Systems,” is directed to an Internet-based system andmethod for delivering customized advertisements to users of interactivedevices, specifically computers. The system includes at least threedifferent entities that communicate with each other via the WWW, viz., acontent provider, an advertisement provider, and a consumer.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,211 to M. A. Sloane, entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Promoting Products and Influencing Consumer Purchasing Decisions atthe Point-of-Purchase,” is directed to a system and method wherein aconsumer in a retail store uses a portable barcode scanner to scanproducts. The scanner is in wireless communication with an on-sitecomputer controller. If a scanned product is currently under a salespromotion, the controller alerts the scanner. The idea is to influencebuying decisions while the person is standing in an aisle with productsin front of him. In another embodiment, a consumer is identified beforehe begins shopping so that the computer/controller can utilize his pastpurchase history to offer promotional discounts.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,770 to R. T. Miyahira et al., entitled “WirelessOptical Communication System,” is directed to a wireless full-duplex,optical short-range communication system operating as an intercom. Thesystem can be used in fast-food restaurants or other commercialfacilities where two-way voice communication between a central stationand multiple remote units is useful.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,636,835 to Deloris Ragsdle-Elliott et al., entitled“Wireless Maitre d' System for Restaurants,” discloses a method forproviding interactive two-way communications between patrons andrestaurant service personnel who have direct interaction with thepatrons during restaurant encounters. The system includes theutilization of first and second wireless devices and the two-waywireless communication includes an order for a retail item from thepatron to the restaurant service personnel.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,304 to T. Tsukishma et al., entitled “ProductManagement Method and System,” discloses a system for managing each ofthe component parts included in a product from a manufacturer of theproduct, the provider of the various parts which go into the product,the service provision for the product, and the consumer. This managementis accomplished by making the information and services regarding theproduct and the parts available to the customer who possesses theproduct, the parties concerned in the sales of the product,manufacturing and maintenance of the product, as well as others such aspublic organizations who may have an interest in the product.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,828 to L. C. Austin, entitled “Multi-ChannelInfrared Cableless Communication System,” discloses a system forsimultaneously transmitting a plurality of audio signals into aspecified space to one or more reception points. For example, the systemis particularly adapted for providing simultaneous language translationsat a conference or similar application.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,037 to P. Williams, entitled “Method and System forInteractively Providing Product Related Information on Demand andProviding Personalized Transactional Benefits at a Point of Purchase,”discloses a system which provides interactively product information to auser based upon the product identification such as a UPC code and allowsthe user to engage in various transactions related to the product suchas the ability to efficiently purchase the product or service ofinterest.

What is needed is an integrated system in which content from amultiplicity of sources both related to a specific venue as well as of amore general nature can be collected so that the content is available toa user upon demand. The system must also operate to distribute thecollected content to the user upon demand as well as allowinginteractions between the user and the content. The system must alsoprovide the ability for the specific venue administration to monitor theusage of the content by the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a system for providing informationto a user and includes a first database, a means for generating a firstpredetermined content for storage in the first database, a seconddatabase, means for generating a second predetermined content forstorage and the second database, a server, means for interconnecting thefirst and second databases to the server, a plurality of transceivers,means providing access by each of the transceivers to the server andselector means on each of the transceivers for selectively accessingsaid first and second content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained byreference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunctionwith the subsequent, detailed description, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting the Central Office Production andProcessing (COPP 1070) and Local Content Access Provider (LCAP 1076);

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting the four types of participants inthe system;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting content sources and varioussub-systems;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting groupings of sub-systems andcommunications among them;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting raw data from the RCS 1000 through theCOPP 1070 sub-system;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram depicting system level components broken downby COPP 1070 and LCAP 1076;

FIG. 7 illustrates a Login screen for PCMS 1086;

FIG. 8 illustrates an Edit SKU entry screen using the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 9 illustrates an Edit New SKU editing screen using the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 10 illustrates an Edit Existing SKU editing screen using the PCMS1086;

FIG. 11 illustrates an ability to search for an SKU visually using theSKUs Home Page within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 12 illustrates a Setup Find Categories screen within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 13 illustrates a Create SKU Home Page within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 14 illustrates a Create SKU Home Page for adding multimedia suchas, Photos within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 15 illustrates a Create SKU Home Page for adding multimedia suchas, Audio within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 16 illustrates an Add SKU Information Pages such as FAQ within thePCMS 1086;

FIG. 17 illustrates a GO-UI 199 FAQ Questions page;

FIG. 18 illustrates a GO-UI 199 FAQ Answer page;

FIG. 19 illustrates an Add SKU Information Pages such as, Text Infoscreens within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 20 illustrates an Add SKU Information Pages such as, for Compareand Visuals, within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 21 illustrates a Submittal & Proofing screen within the PCMS 1086;

FIG. 22 illustrates a Scheduling & Distribution screen within the PCMS1086;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram depicting PBI 180 from a seeker;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram depicting PBI 180 from an item;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram depicting RING 182 can be two dimensional andthree dimensional shapes;

FIG. 26 is a block diagram depicting the ability to reference the PBI ofsimilar product categories with such data as, the coordinates x, y, andz;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram depicting the creation of a RING 182 usingmultiple points;

FIG. 28 is a block diagram depicting the creation of a RING 182 usingconditions to exclude points;

FIG. 29 is a block diagram depicting the creation of a RING 182 made upof separate shapes due to pre-established conditions;

FIG. 30 is a block diagram depicting a RING 182 where the RING center isabout the origin of said circle;

FIG. 31 is a block diagram depicting a RING 182 where the RING center isoffset by concentration of points;

FIG. 32 is a block diagram depicting a RING 182 a around a single itemsuch as, a product in a store;

FIG. 33 is a block diagram depicting a RING 182 b around an aisle ofsimilar products such as, ovens;

FIG. 34 is a block diagram depicting a RING 182 c around an appliancedepartment;

FIG. 35 is a block diagram depicting a RING 182 d around a product andan item within a special condition;

FIG. 36 is a block diagram depicting conditions that create multipleRINGs 182 that create separate distinct regions;

FIG. 37 is a block diagram depicting a series of points that produceData Over Time Path or DOT Path representing a Seeker's path;

FIG. 38 is another block diagram depicting a series of points thatproduce Data Over a Time Span or DOT Path representing a Seeker's path;

FIG. 39 is a block diagram depicting a series of points that produceData Over a Time Span or DOT Path representing a Seeker's path withcolor-coding for certain conditions;

FIG. 40 is a block diagram depicting Boolean calculations with mergedRINGS 182 shapes;

FIG. 41 is a block diagram depicting various levels of transceiversub-systems;

FIG. 42 is a flow chart depicting a Seeker 999 making a request on aTO-U 200 within an LCAP 1076;

FIG. 43 is a flow chart depicting a Ranking process of a number ofSeekers' Requests;

FIG. 44 is a flow chart depicting a Tour Mode process;

FIG. 45 is a flow chart depicting a Project Selection process;

FIG. 46 is a flow chart depicting a Call Staff process within HelpQueuing;

FIG. 47 is a flow chart depicting a process of Staff Arrival within HelpQueuing;

FIG. 48 is a flow chart depicting a process of assigning an employee toSeekers within Help Queuing;

FIG. 49 is a flow chart depicting a process of an employee helping aSeeker 999 within Help Queuing;

FIG. 50 is a block diagram depicting Staff 198 and Seekers 999 in a LCAP1076 interacting with a LCS 1136 via a wireless TAPs 1084.

FIG. 51 is a block diagram depicting employee's 198 TO-U 200 GO-UI 199while helping Seeker 999 within Help Queuing;

FIG. 52 is a block diagram depicting an employee's 198 TO-U 200 GO-UI199 mapping a path to a Seeker 999 within Help Queuing;

FIG. 53 is a block diagram depicting an employee's 198 TO-U 200 GO-UI199 showing the last item request by a Seeker 999 was looking at priorto requesting Call Staff within Help Queuing;

FIG. 54 is a block diagram depicting an employee's 198 TO-U 200 GO-UI199 Call Staff button within Help Queuing;

FIG. 55 is a block diagram depicting an employee's 198 TO-U 200 GO-UI199 help options within Help Queuing;

FIG. 56 is a block diagram depicting a seeker's TO-U 200 GO-UI 199number in-line;

FIG. 57 is a block diagram depicting a seeker's TO-U 200 GO-UI 199 voteon an employee's performance;

FIG. 58 is an illustration depicting TO-QM management screen;

FIG. 59 is an illustration depicting TO-QM employee screen;

FIG. 60 is an illustration depicting the RTMI or Real-Time MarketIntelligence reporting screen;

FIG. 61 is a block diagram depicting Clip Production;

FIG. 62 is a flow chart depicting an Order for Service process;

FIG. 63 illustrates a person carrying a POD 170 or the mobile TO-U 200called a “Proprietary Operating Device”;

FIG. 64 illustrates a POD 170 front view;

FIG. 65 is one side perspective view of the POD 170.

FIG. 66 is a functional view of the side trackwheel for the POD 170;

FIG. 67 is an alternative side perspective view of the POD 170.

FIGS. 68(A) and (B) are graphical representation of the top display whenthe GO-UI 199 is scrolling audio clips;

FIG. 69 is a front keypad of the handheld device.

FIGS. 70(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), (K) and (L)are graphical representations of a top and a front display when theGO-UI 199 is scrolling audio clips;

FIGS. 71(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H) are graphicalrepresentations of the front display when the GO-UI 199 is scrolling the‘on-site’ portion of the text database;

FIGS. 72(A), (B), (C), and (D) are graphical representations of thefront display when the GO-UI 199 is scrolling the ‘local’ portion of thetext database;

FIGS. 73(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F) are graphical representationsof the front display when the GO-UI 199 is scrolling the ‘national’portion of the text database;

FIGS. 74(A), (B), (C), and (D) are graphical representations of thefront display when the GO-UI 199 is scrolling the other portion of thetext database;

FIGS. 75(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), (K), (L), (M),(N), (O), (P), (O) and (R) are graphical representations of the frontdisplay when the GO-UI 199 is setting up a user profile under the setupportion of the text capabilities;

FIGS. 76(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F) are graphical representationsof the front display when the GO-UI 199 is reviewing the end-user'spre-defined locally-stored ‘favorites’;

FIGS. 77(A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) are graphical representations ofthe front display when the GO-UI 199 is scrolling through differentscreen display options under ‘setup’;

FIGS. 78(A) and (B) are graphical representations of an alternativeembodiment of the GO-UI 199 while in text scrolling mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is an end-to-end system that collects, aggregates, tags,and delivers Content. This Content can be made available with an enabledenvironment or venue, and is both interactive and can be relevant toone's mobile location within the environment. The Content available tothe end-user or “Seeker” 999 could include product information at thepoint-of-purchase, interactive marketing messages, news, entertainment,media, expert opinions, and other customers' feedback. The usage of thesystem and of the Content is then tracked to create more measurementsand improve the systems effectiveness. The system allows for adjustmentsremotely and in near real-time by any party with permission, includingparties along the supply chain, such as a product's OEM (originalequipment manufacturer), inventor, advertising agency, sales force,supplier, VARs (value-added-resellers), trade show exhibitor, thevenue's own marketing department, corporate headquarters, and/or on-siteby the venue's location manager.

Almost all publicly-available real-time Content flows in onedirection—from the top down or for example, from the seller to thebuyer: A supplier-to-retail buyer, a retail buyer-to-store manager, astore manager-to-store employee 198 (also sometimes referred to as“staff”), a store employee-to-shopper. This highly inefficient systemforces the shopper and store employee to use only what information isavailable or dictated from above, not necessarily what may be mostproductive, beneficial, or desired. Critical, popular, timely, and/orhelpful information that is made available or provided to one customer,does not necessarily mean the same information will be available to thenext Seeker 999.

Subsystems

The overall system has four basic information Subsystems:

1. The Content Source Subsystem

2. The Distribution Subsystem

3. The Interaction Subsystem, and

4. The Monitoring Subsystem.

Each of these four Subsystems contains transceivers that have theability to receive and send information and operate with both hardwareand software. The transceivers used for the Content Source,Distribution, and Monitoring Subsystems could be stationary, while thetransceiver for the end-user or Seeker 999, FIG. 1 (or the InteractionSubsystem) could allow for wireless mobility, but it also could be astationary device such as a computer kiosk.

An installation could function on a single Content Source and MonitoringSubsystem combined on a single computer that is connected to aDistribution Subsystem comprising of a single transceiver, and still beorganized to work with an Interaction Subsystem comprised of a few ortens, hundreds, or even thousands of Seekers 999 at any given time. Onthe other hand, another installation could have a number of ContentSource Subsystems, a Distribution Subsystem comprised of a number ofnetworked distribution transceivers and Monitoring Subsystems, whilestill supplying a Seeker 999 population that is expected to be in acontinuous state of change.

FIG. 4 shows that the overall system allows for a number of informationor Content producers, editors, monitors, and consumers, called “RCS” orRemote Content Sources 1000. All these parties can be in the samelocation or they can interact from separate locations. Content couldinclude among other things, audio, voice, music, text, text-to-speech,speech-to-text, graphics, charts, data, maps, and video. FIG. 3 showsthat Content could include such things as live content 102, aprerecorded medium 1104, a live feed 1106, and/or manually inputtedcontent 1108.

FIG. 2 shows that Content goes through a “COPP” or the Central OfficeProduction and Processing 1070, and is sent to a “CAP” or Content AccessProvider 1004 through a network connection, such as the Internet 1080. ACAP 1004 location that contributes and redistributes local Content using“PCMS” or Proprietary Content Management Software 1086, FIG. 1 is a“LCAP” or Local Content Access Provider 1076, FIG. 1. A CAP 1004 withoutlocal Content redistribution is a “RCAP” or Remote Content AccessProvider 1006, FIG. 2.

A Seeker 999

An end-user of the above Content is a Seeker 999, FIG. 1. This Seeker999 obtains and interacts with Content at a CAP 1004 using softwarereferred to as the “GO-UI” or Graphical Operating-Unit Interface 199,FIG. 20, on enabled-hardware called a “TO-U” or TransceiverOperating-Unit 200, FIG. 1. These enabled devices or TO-Us 200 couldinclude such things as computers, kiosks, handhelds, tablet devices,mobile personal devices, and mobile phones among other devices.

PCMS—Proprietary Content Management Software

“PCMS” or Proprietary Content Management Software 1086, FIG. 1, is anapplication that allows Content contributors, editors, and other thirdparties to create, modify, and monitor Content, Content usage, andsystem usage patterns. Content deliveries and exchanges on the systemcan be restricted, delayed, made in near real-time, or live.

PCMS 1086 allows each Content provider the ability to update their ownContent either on-site at the LCAP 1076 or remotely. At a trade show inLas Vegas for example, Content such as product details, upcoming events,or training information could be maintained and updated several ways.This trade show information could be maintained by: 1) an internalcreative agency 2) by the venue provider (such as the Las VegasConvention Center) 3) by the event sponsor (such as the ConsumerElectronics Association) 4) by the exhibitors or VARs such asIngram-Micro, 5) by the OEMs such as SONY, 6) from “ACS” 188 (AutomatedComputerized Sensors, explained later), or 7) any combination of theprevious six.

Continuing the trade show example, the internal creative agency couldacquire, load, and maintain the majority of the information for theevent using the PCMS 1086 at the LCAP 1076. This information mightinclude specific product details for any given trade show booth, and thelocator information for the nearest cash machine or payphone. The LCAP1076, FIG. 3 could provide Seekers 999 access to Content, such assports, music, games, weather, entertainment, and news for both LasVegas and other remote locations that arrives from Remote ContentSources 1000 through the Internet, after said Content has beenaggregated and distributed by the COPP 1070, FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows that the Las Vegas Convention Center (or venue provider)and the Consumer Electronics Association (or event sponsor) would beable to access and update information such as any changes to on-siteconferences or booth locations using the PCMS 1086, from either anon-site PCMS 1086 station at the LCAP 1076 or from a RCS or RemoteContent Source 1000. Exhibitors, VARs, and OEMs would also be able toupdate information, either at the LCAP 1076 or from a RCS 1000. Forexample, SONY could make information updates using PCMS 1086 on-site attheir booth and/or from their company's headquarters in Japan via anetwork connection such as the Internet 1080. Seekers 999 can obtain theContent from a LCAP 1076, FIG. 3 or off-site within a RCAP 1006.

The Content Source Subsystem

The Content Source Subsystem is comprised of three high-level Contentcontributors:

1. A “COPP” or Central Office Production and Processing, 1070, FIG. 4—isthe location for the “CCS” or COPP Content Server 1114 and the facilityfor collecting, examining, modifying, and policing all Content. ThisContent can come from an “RCS” or Remote Content Source 1000, a LCAP1076, the COPP 1070 itself, and/or a Seeker 999 at a RCAP 1006.

Information or Content that gets modified, aggregated, or tagged iscalled “TAC” 184 or Tagged and Aggregated Content. Content at the COPP1070 generally gets processed and has the appropriate TAC 184 addedbefore it's distribution to CAPs 1004. Additional TAC 184 can be addedat the CAP 1004. Examples of TAC 184 would be creating “FLT” 186 orForeign Language Translations, “D-FACS” 874 or Data-From AutomatedComputer Sensors, “MUN” 878 or Match-Up Notifications, or location-awaredata called “PBI” 180 or Proximity-Based Information (see “More onContent Source Subsystem” later).

2. An “RCS” or Remote Content Sources, 1000, FIG. 4—defines remotethird-party Content contributors, such as retailers, manufacturers, newsfeeds, advertisers, and other commercial entities that do NOT provideon-site public access to their internal Content or third-party database1116. Some RCS 1000 locations strictly provide Content, while RCS 1000providers also make modifications and/or monitor Content usage. InternalContent modifications at a RCS 1000 are typically synchronized with theCOPP 1070.

3. A “CAP” or Content Access Provider 1004—is any location thatdistributes Content to an Interaction Subsystem of Seekers 999, but aCAP 1004 can also collect Content from the environment and from theSeeker's 999 usage. FIG. 4 shows some of the different types of CAPs1004 (a MAP or Mobile Access Provider 1020, a MOC or Mobile OnlineConnection 1022, a ROC or Remote Online Connection 1024, and a SAP orStationary Access Provider 1026). Both a MAP 1020 and SAP are LCAPs1076. A LCAP 1076 generally stores and distributes Content that resideson a “LCS” 1136 or Local Content Server, but these servers can alsoaccept or create new Content, new modifications, and monitor Contentlocally using the PCMS 1086. Content modifications made on-site arestamped as “local modifications” and are typically synchronized with theCOPP 1070 as needed. A CAP 1004 receives Content that has been allocatedby the COPP 1070 for its specific CAP-type (MAP 1020, MOC 1022, ROC1024, or SAP, explained more later).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of how data from retailersand manufactures is received via an Internet connection at the COPP1070, updated and expanded at the COPP 1070, and sent to assigned CAPs1004. RCS 1000 data is received or collected via the Internet in XML824, EDI 826, CSV 828, or Other 830 formats and the raw data is thenconverted 822 to a proprietary format of XML. One example of data fromthe RCS 1000 would be raw inventory data. This inventory data couldrepresent a multitude of stores within a single chain or a multitude ofsources within an organization. The incoming raw data to proprietary XMLformat data 822 is then synchronized with the existing COPP data 832.

Data can be received and/or modified using a Standard Web Browser withInternet Access 852, using PCMS 1086. This data along with the raw datafor the RCS 1000 then moves on to the Account Management 834. AccountManagement 834 will retrieve information from billing 836 to checkconditions on the specific RCS 1000 account or account logged in fromthe Human Interface 852 to determine if said account is in goodstanding. Such conditions could include such items as the financialstanding of the account, proper grammar usage, spelling, the number ofcharacters within a particular field, price verifications, and manyother conditions can be run against the new and updated Content. Inaddition, accounts or content that were found not to be correct or ingood financial standing could be flagged, warned, and/or notified forcollection. If the account content is in good standing the data is thenpassed on to the PCMS 1086.

PCMS 1086 will then check permissions 838 for the account, as to whattype of data can be updated such as the descriptions, pictures, audioclips, video clips, and other elements. Once permission levels areestablished permission rules 840 are applied to the data.

The TACs 184 are then generated 842 from FLT creation 844, PBI Creation846, and Other TAC Request 848. The TACs 184 then moves on to ContentFiltering and Validation 850 to ensure proper content conditions, suchas grammar, spelling, the number of characters within a particularfield, price verifications, and many other conditions have been met.This information can be run against the new and updated content.

The TACs 184 are then submitted to permanent storage 860. Once inpermanent storage the history database is updated 862 and reporting 864is made ready to include this new data in any new reports generated. ThePCMS 1086 will use Generate Subscribed TACs 842 to pull TACs 184 fromPermanent Storage 860. The TACs 184 are then scheduled for distribution854. TACs 184 generated from the Human Interface 852 will be scheduledaccording to the user's input or those pre-established by those withproper permissions. TACs 184 generated from the RCS 1000 data will bescheduled according to a predetermined schedule set in place by the LCAP1076 (i.e. weekly or daily). According to schedules the individual TACsare Packaged 856 together in one file, and sent to the relevant CAPs858.

FIG. 6 describes a high-level component set of a COPP 1070 and an LCAP1076. COPP 1070 and LCAP 1076 are a combination of programs written in astandard Object Oriented Programming language such as Java, C++, or anyother similar language. Resulting programs can run on an industrystandard application server. An example of such an application servercan be BEA's WebLogic server, IBM's WebSphere, JBOSS Server, or ApacheTomcat. COPP 1070 programs consists of CCS 1114, PCMS 1086, XML 904,Reports 908, Billing 910, Accounts 912, Permissions Layer 914, and aPersistence Layer 916. In addition an enterprise level database programis used to store content. These various components communicate amongeach other using an industry standard TCP/IP protocol 906 or a similarprotocol.

LCAP 1076 programs consists of Proximity Estimator 1142, Queuing 1030,PCMS 1086, LCS 1136, XML 904, Persistence Layer, Database system, andcommunicates with third party systems available on-site. In addition,TO-U 200 communication transceivers are also LCAP 1076 components. Anexample of third party systems can be a POS 178 (Point-of-Sale),Iventory System, Asset Management System and other systems. Thesevarious programs also communicate between each other using an industrystandard TCP/IP protocol 906 or a similar protocol.

COPP 1070 and LCAP 1076 are two separate systems with an establishedrelationship. COPP 1070 could communicate with LCAP 1076 using astandard encrypted SSL 914 communications link via the Internet 1080.SSL 914 over Internet 1080 transport protocol allows for two systems tocommunicate with each other securely in a standard industry knownmanner. Other secure transport means could be used to securecommunication data. Securely, typically means data traveling over theInternet 1080 is not available for someone to read in plain text.

Communications between COPP 1070 and LCAP 1076 allow for both componentsto synchronize their data For example, if a Remote Content Provider 1000updates product information within COPP 1070, depending on schedulingmechanisms, this updated product information is delivered to LCAP 1076,therefore keeping both COPP 1070 and LCAP 1076 in sync. Received productinformation will be stored using commercial database software 1138 withthe help of a Persistence Layer 916. This product information, nowresiding at the LCAP 1076 commercial database software 1138 is availablevia PCMS 1086 for distribution to Seeker 199.

On the other hand, a Content Provider at the LCAP 1076 could updateproduct information as well. In this situation LCAP 1076 willcommunicate such changes back to the COPP 1070 based on LCAP's 1076synchronization mechanisms. Similarly product information transmitted toCOPP 1070 will be stored within the commercial database software 1116with the help of a Persistence Layer 916.

COPP 1070 components CCS 1114, PCMS 1086, XML 904, Reports 908, Billing910, Accounts 912, and others are independent programs residingexternally to a commercial location. LCAP 1076 components ProximityEstimator 1142, TO-U 200, Queuing 1030, Persistence Layer 916, PCMS1086, LCS 1136, XML 904, internal systems on-site 1032, and othersreside within a commercial location.

FIG. 7 shows the portal a Mfr. or manufacturer would use to create,upload, modify, and/or monitor content. This portal the Mfr. logs intoprovides the Mfr. access to the PCMS 1086, FIG. 5.

For example, the Mfr. could go online remotely via the Internet andselect the appropriate login, such as an “Existing Accounts & Users”button 210 FIG. 7, and logs in to the PCMS 1086 with their companyassigned email 212 and an authorized password 214. Functions andcapabilities are assigned per login type and per user. FIG. 8 shows theuser's name 274 appears at the top after logging in. The PCMS 1086 canperform many functions. These functions depend on who is logged-in.

A Mfr. can choose between many functions with the PCMS 1086, such as alist of retail stores, a list of SKUs or Stock Keeping Units, theirbilling status, their PCMS 1086 usage history, and Seeker 999 usage oftheir Content. From FIG. 8, the Mfr. could select the “Edit An ExistingSKU(s) in Database” button 218 to edit an SKU's Home Page (see below) orthe Mfr. could select the “Add Missing SKU(s) or New Products” button220 to potentially add new SKUs to the database.

SKU Home Page

A SKU's home page is typically the first page that a Seeker 999 bringsup when using the GO-UI 199 on his TO-U 200 for said SKU while within aLCAP. FIG. 15 show a “SKU Home Page Layout Preview” 282. A Seeker 999can bring up a SKU home page by a number of means, such as with a barcode scanner or other methodology developed now or in the future or bymanually entering a code. Typically a SKU home page can be generatedfrom data pulled from a retailer's database without any Mfr.participation, but the Mfr. can create new Content, modify existingContent, remove Content, and/or monitor Seeker 999 usage using the PCMS1086 from an RCS 1000.

FIG. 9 shows the number of SKU per Manufacturer 208, depends on what isselected under “Select Participating Retailer” 226. With all retailersin the database selected, the number in the “SKUs/Manufacturer” field208 would be all the SKUs in the database for the logged-in Mfr.Whereas, if the Mfr. selected a particular retailer using the “SelectParticipating Retailer” drop down menu 226, the number ofSKUs/Manufacturer results field 208 would be those known SKUs in thedatabase for the designated retailer.

FIG. 8, shows Section 2, “Edit SKU Info or Add SKU” button 202. Fromhere, a Mfr. can select the “Review Overall SKU Information” 216, “EditAn Existing SKU(s) in Database” 218, and, for this example, select “AddMissing SKUs or New Products” 220. FIG. 9, shows the menu entitled “AddA New SKU To The Database” 222, where the Mfr. can enter a SKU 224 tosee if it is in the database or the Mfr. can “submit” the SKU to add itto the database.

This ability for the Mfr. to enter SKUs might occur with new productsthat are not in the retailer's database yet. If retailers wanted, theycould allow a Mfr. to provide in-store Seekers 999 information regardingnew products, even before the product is available within the stores. Bythe Mfr. submitting a SKU that is not in the database, the COPP 1070 canreview it based on a list of conditions set by a retailer and/or theCOPP 1070 could forward it to the appropriate retailer for databaseinclusion permission.

If the Mfr.'s SKU was already in the database and available from thePCMS 1086, the Mfr. could select the button “Edit An Existing SKU(s) inDatabase” 218, back on FIG. 8. FIG. 10 shows the next screen where theMfr. could then use the “Select Participating Retailer” search 226 tosee a list of SKUs for that particular retailer. For example, the Mfr.could select a single electronic retail chain that sells the Mfr'srefrigerators from the drop down menu. After the selection, the Mfr.would see the number of SKUs within that the retailers chain that areknown to belong to the Mfr. by looking at the “SKUs/Manufacturer” field230.

The Mfr. could then use the pull down menu “Select A SKU From Our FullList” 232 or the Mfr could narrow the search by using the “Search Usinga Keyword” field 234, ideally, using keywords that would likely appearin the database and that are assigned to a particular SKU that the Mfr.would like to retrieve. The database contains several terms includingshort product descriptions. For example, by entering “DVD” and pressing“submit” the Mfr. would see the number of SKUs in the Database that metthat criterion in the window 236.

If the desired SKU is missing the Mfr. can press “The SKU is Missing”246 button or enter the SKU with the procedure outlined above underselect “Add Missing SKUs or New Products” 220. If the Mfr. found aspecific SKU the Mfr. wanted to edit, the Mfr. could select “Edit HomePage” 248, FIG. 10 (explained later). If the Mfr. wanted to see the listof SKUs created from one of the above-neared searches, the Mfr. wouldpress “Submit” and see a browser window 250, FIG. 11.

Using the “Back” 252 arrow and the “Next” 254 arrow, the Mfr. cannavigate from a list of SKUs visually. This browser window 250 wouldshow the Mfr. which photo are assigned to the SKUs the Mfr. selected inthe previous section and which SKUs do not have photos assigned to them.The Mfr. can narrow the search using “Sort By ‘FIND” Category” 256. Oncethe Mfr. selects a SKU that the Mfr. would like to modify the Mfr. canuse the buttons below the browser window 250, such as “Edit This SKU'sFIND Categories” 258.

“Find Mode” Categories

The Mfr. can assign or modify the “Find Mode” categories in section 3 orthe “Setup FIND Categories” 203 section, FIG. 12, for any of their SKUsthat reside in the database. The “Find Mode” categories are thosesubject headings used by a Seeker 999 when navigating the GO-UI 199hierarchy for product categories at a CAP 1004 or a retail store. Forexample, a refrigerator Mfr. could assign the “Main/Top Category” 261 toa specific refrigerator that the Mfr. manufactured as “Home Appliances”,the subsequent or secondary category 262 to “Kitchen Appliances”, andthe third category 263 to “Refrigerators”.

The retailer would typically predetermine these “Find Mode” categories,so that the Mfr. can simply select from a list of pull-down options thatbest describe the appropriate category and any subsequent levels.Ideally, the Mfr. would assign these “Find Mode” categories until thecategories were exhausted. So if there was a subsequent or fourthcategory 264, for further breaking down refrigerator types by somethingsuch as the door styles, the Mfr. could make that selection as well.

If on the other hand, the fourth category 264 was unavailable, the Mfr.could assume that they had exhausted the “Find Mode” categories at threefor this product. If the “Find Mode” Categories assigned to one SKU alsoapplied to others, the Mfr. could use the “Apply To Multiple SKUs” 268to use the setting on the appropriate SKUs.

If more than one category can describe a product/SKU, the Mfr. couldlist the SKU under multiple “Find Mode” categories by using “Add MoreTop Categories” 270. For example, a multi-function printer/fax/phonecould appear under the “Find Mode” categories ofelectronics/peripherals/printers; while also appearing under the “FindMode” category phones/fax machines/multi-functional devices. Once theMfr. was satisfied with the “Find Mode” categories for a particular SKU,the Mfr. could select “Edit Home Page” 272, to edit the SKU's home page.

FIG. 13, PCMS 1086 section 4, “Create SKU Home Page” 204, is where theMfr. can create a new SKU home page or modify an existing SKU home page.At the top of the page is the name of the logged-in user 274, a retailer276 where the SKU is currently being or going to be sold, and the actualSKU 278 number. If no image has been assigned to the SKU yet, there isno image in the dotted-line area, the area-reserved-for-images 280 inthe “SKU Home Page Layout Preview” 282. The Mfr. can add an image usingthe “JPEG Photos” button 284 to browse images the Mfr. has access to onhis network.

The Mfr. can use the “Load A Photo” 286, FIG. 14, button to load animage that the Mfr. has created in advance or select any images thatappear in the drop down 288 area that have been preloaded. When the Mfr.uses the “Load A Photo” 286 button, the images the Mfr. selects willalso appear in the drop down 288 area. The Mfr. uses the “Apply” 290button to update the “SKU Home Page Layout Preview” 282 area.

The Mfr. can also use the “Load Audio” 292, FIG. 15, button to load anaudio clip that the Mfr. has created in advance or he may select anyaudio clips that appear in the drop down 294 area that have beenpreloaded. When the Mfr. uses the “Load Audio” 292 button, the audioclips the Mfr. selects will also appear in the drop down 294 area. TheMfr. can also select “Text-To-Speech” 296 to type in a text message thatwill get converted to audio. The audio the Mfr. selects can playautomatically or be available for the Seeker 999 to select when theSeeker 999 is viewing the SKU home page while at a CAP 1004.

In the “Special Offer/Lead Information” box 283, the Mfr. can modify thetext descriptions, such as the “Player/VCR Combo Multi-formatProgressive Scan DVD” text that currently appears in the “SKU Home PagePreview” 282. This data may originally have been pulled from theretailer's database, but can be changed or modified by the Mfr. bytyping in the “Special Offer/Lead Information” box 283. The Mfr. can usethe menu entitled “View This SKU's Modification History” 526, FIG. 15 tosee which SKUs in the database have been modified and by whom. The Mfr.can also create additional SKU information pages by pressing the page 5button “Add SKU Info Pages” 205.

In section 5 of the PCMS 1086 or “Add SKU Info Pages” 205, FIG. 16, theMfr. can create, delete, review, and/or modify the “Customers Questionsor FAQs” (Frequently Asked Questions) 501, “Compare with Our Products”502, “Compare with Other Brands” 503, “Add Links” 504, “TechnicalSpecifications” 505, “Loyal Customer Rebates” 506, and “Gift IdeaCategories” 507 that are associated with a particular SKU's home page.Using the FAQs 501 for example, a car Mfr. could create a list of FAQsthat would be available from the SKU home page of a particular car modelX, at a CAP 1004 or system-enabled car dealership LCAP 1076. This listcan be based on conditions set by the COPP 1070 and the LCAP 1076 and/oras large a list as the Mfr. is willing to pay for.

Today, FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) postings found on manymanufacturers' websites lack validity as sources of reliableinformation. Often there are no standards for posting FAQs and somesites try to disguise suggestive sales efforts as FAQs. Consequently,consumers are often left questioning the source, validity, and thepopularity order of the FAQs on many websites. In addition, it is rarethat the consumer can add their own FAQs or feedback to these sites.

Using the PCMS 1086, ideally the Mfr. would initially create a list ofFAQs that they believe will best help Seekers 999 understand the Mfr.'sproduct(s). For example, the car Mfr. could create an FAQ list startingwith question number one that reads, “What is the base price of thecar?” The car Mfr. could then input the answer, “$25,408” and apotential lead question that would guide the Seeker 999 to additionalinformation such as a price breakdown of additional features. The carMfr. could continue these four components: 1) the question 508, 2) theanswer 511, 3) associated media 509, and 4) the menu/lead question 510that leads a Seeker 999 to additional information or a series of relatedquestions. The Mfr. could then be assessed a fee, for example, based onthe number of questions and/or the amount of information.

The Seeker 999 usage could dictate the order that the FAQs appear on theGO-UI 199 on the TO-U 200. For example, if the car Mfr. had a FAQ thatsaid, “How much is the extended warranty?” placed at FAQ number four,but it was the most popular requested FAQ among Seekers 999, the FAQcould move up to number one as in FIG. 17, “GO-UI FAQ 1” 512 whichillustrates the GO-UI 199 that would appear on the Seeker's TO-U 200.The Seeker 999 could press this button “GO-UI FAQ 1” 512 and bring upthe answer that appears in FIG. 18. The FAQ that the Seeker 999requested appears at the top as button 513, the answer details appear inthe scroll area 514, and the menu/lead question on the GO-UI 199 appearsas button 515.

There could be a number of conditions placed on the ordering of theFAQs. The order of the FAQs for a particular item or product could bebased on a number of factors, such as the number of requests made bySeekers 999 nationwide, Seekers 999 locally, or Seekers 999 within thatparticular car dealership. The order could also be based on historicalinformation, such as the popularity of the FAQs when compared to lastyear, last week, some specific moment in time, or some selected timeinterval. A Seeker 999 could request the popularity order of the FAQsfor a particular item over a select period of time. Such methods couldallow the Seeker 999 to determine current popularity trends. For examplethe Seeker 999 may wish to know the popularity of a particular videorelease over the last two days opposed to the popularity since the videowas released.

Additional conditions could be set that require a minimum number ofSeeker 999 requests be made before reordering the FAQ order. This couldhelp prevent misleading the Seeker 999 with popularity information thathas an insufficient sampling size. For example, if the FAQs were simplyrearranged based only on three Seekers' 999 usage, depending on theproduct, the next Seeker 999 could be looking at a list of FAQs that hadbeen rearranged from an insufficient sampling. Consequently, thesampling rate could be set at a minimum number before rearranging theorder of FAQs. This minimum number could vary by product.

Other parties beside the Mfr. could be allowed to include additionalFAQs to the overall list, such as FAQs created by the retailheadquarters, a retail manager, a retail employee, a Seeker 999, and/orother members of the Mfr.'s supply chain. For example, a retailer couldadd a FAQ that offers Seekers 999 the ability to learn about andpurchase an extended warranty that reads, “How much for an extendedwarranty?”

Seekers 999 that have questions that are not on the FAQ list could givean employee of the retailer the question to input into the PCMS 1086,the retailer could allow the Seekers 999 themselves to add FAQs while inthe store or from a computer anywhere online. Ideally, the Seeker 999would look at a list of FAQ suggestions made by other Seekers 999 beforeadding their own. These suggestions could be voted on and added whenthey hit a certain threshold of requests. If a Seeker 999 did not seetheir question on the suggestion list, they could add it, but it wouldnot necessarily appear until others also voted that it was needed.

Ideally, each suggested FAQ addition would be succinct so that otherSeekers 999 would not be simply rewording the same question. It may bein the Seekers' 999 best interest to add votes to a suggested FAQ thanto create a competing suggestion. For example, if a Seeker 999 wouldlike to see a FAQ added that tells Seekers 999, “What is the life spanof a particular cell phone's battery?” but another Seeker 999 hasalready suggested adding the question that says, “What is the talk timeof this particular cell phone?” the Seeker 999 would have to decide ifthese questions were similar enough to add a vote to the “talk time”suggestion or create a new “life span” question that would be competingwith this suggestion for other Seekers' 999 votes.

This system could be simplified if handled by the retailer's employeesand may require conditions be met, such as additional approvals by theMfr. and/or the retailer. Fees could be applied to this Seeker 999 FAQinput feature that not only improves the database for other Seekers 999,but also generates feedback that is highly localized. For example, theMfr. might learn that Seekers 999 have different needs and differentquestions not only city-to-city, but at different locations within thesame city.

The goal would be to create the perfect FAQ list that truly representsboth the most frequently asked questions by other Seekers 999 and in theorder that best represents their popularity. Ideally this list would bedynamic and the FAQ answers would be succinct and of the most benefit tothe Seekers 999. In addition, Seekers 999 could leave feedback regardingthe quality of the information and the answers that were made available.This feedback could also be made available to other Seekers 999 in manyforms, such as in text, audio, emoticon scores, bar charts, and/ornumeric scores.

Tech Specs

“Tech Specs” can include such things as detailed technicalspecifications in text form, the ability to do side-by-side comparisonof other products, and other features that the Mfr. would like tohighlight. These highlights could be such things as audio descriptionsthat could guide the Seeker 999 through a series of product features.FIG. 19, shows textual information that the Mfr. can add or modify using“Edit Tech Specs” 520. FIG. 20, screen 522, allows the Mfr. to build“Compare” functionality for the SKU and screen 524, allows the Mfr. toadd visual and audio multi-media to the SKU, such as a slide show, videoclips, and/or audio clips.

Submittal and Proofing

FIG. 21, modifications made within the PCMS 1086 could go through aseries of conditions that can be established by such parties as theMfr., the retailer, and/or other third parties. The “Review Overall SKUInformation” section tells the Mfr. which SKUs have been modified andwhich have not. The Mfr. can bring up a list of SKUs that have beenadded to the COPP 1070 from the last time the Mfr. had logged-in to thePCMS 1086. The appearance of the list of new SKUs could appear similarto a list of emails that differentiates between messages that have beenread and messages that are in bold because they have not been read.

The “Review Overall SKU Information” section also tells the Mfr. whichSKUs have multi-media associated with them, such as photos 530, logos,audio, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, maps, video, and/or text. Thismulti-media information can include the quality and/or resolution of themedia, file format, the size of the file, who added the Content, whenthe Content was added, and any fees associated with posting the Content,among other information. For example, a JPEG photo that is 100-499 kbpsin size could require one fee, while a JPEG photo that is 500-999 kbpscould require a different fee. The system could also establish standardsfor media and Content quality, so the Mfr. could see if any of theirContent violates the standards.

Besides multi-media and SKU associations, the “Review Overall SKUInformation” section tells the Mfr. which SKUs have “Find” 528 assigned,“FAQs” 532, and “Tech Specs” 534 associated with them. The Mfr. can alsobring up a list of those SKU home pages that they have most recentlybeen modified. The appearance of the list of modified SKUs could appearand then be sorted, similar to a list of modified files in a typicalfile structure that differentiates between files, not strictly by their“creation dates”, but also based on when they were “last modified.” Thismakes it easier for the Mfr. to review the history of theirmodifications versus when the SKUs first appeared on the system.

“Submittal and Proofing” also tracks what restrictions if any are on theContent. Restrictions can be set for a number of parties and can varydepending on the party. For example, restrictions on what changes can bemade to the Content could originally be set by each retailer. Theretailer could determine how many accounts the Mfr. would have, whattime of time day the changes would take effect or if they would happenin near-real-time, what fields in the database the Mfr. could adjust,and if the Mfr. could reassign responsibilities to other third parties.

The Mfr. may want to assign responsibilities to maintain accurateinformation to other parties in the supply chain to the retailer, suchas to a marketing group, an advertising agency, or a Webmaster. Theseassignments can be for full responsibilities or as needed. Eachrestrictions can be imposed retailer by retailer, store by store with aretail chain.

Scheduling

FIG. 22, “Scheduling and Distribution” allows the Mfr. to createdifferent Content for different locations and/or for different times ofday. The number of retail stores shown per retailer would be dependenton those locations that have LCAPs 1076. For example, a refrigeratorMfr. who logs into the PCMS 1086 may have a list of five differentretail chains that their refrigerators are sold at that are all listedon PCMS 1086. These five retailers could be made up of two electronicstores, two hardware stores, and a warehouse distributor. Each retailerchain could be identified by their unique brand name. Not all storeswithin the retailer's chain would necessarily have to have a LCAPs 1076.

The PCMS 1086 would allow the Mfr. to adjust conditions to affect whenand how ads run. In addition, the system could adjust rebates orretailer pricing, if the retailer desired. A Mfr. could set upconditions such as 1) Stock On-Hand, 2) Temporal conditions, and 3)Locations. For example, if the Mfr.'s inventory was over 5 units of aparticular SKU, between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm on a Saturday orSunday, the system could trigger a rebate for all stores within aretailer's chain that were west of the Mississippi. The Mfr. could setthe location to just the top 10 stores and vary the rebate on initialcustomer response automatically.

Content usage can be restricted depending on conditions set by theretailer and the system administrator for such as things as an account'spayment history. The Mfr. can also select delivery conditions on Contentfor such things as near real-time or hold until a certain time. SomeContent can be live.

COPP 1070 Modified Content

“PBI” 180—Proximity-Based Information

Location-sensitive information is referred to as “PBI” 180 orProximity-Based Information. PBI 180 is information that has validityand/or value primarily in the immediate physical vicinity where theperson seeking the information is currently located. There can be manytypes of PBI 180. PBI 180 assigned to a location will typically becomeless valuable the further away the Seeker 999 travels from a particularlocation.

In FIG. 23, for example, a Seeker 999/shopper within a retailenvironment could request product information only about those productswithin a certain requested proximity of the Seeker's 999 currentlocation. This distance can be predefined or specifically requested bythe Seeker 999. This shrinks the number of products searched within thedatabase to only those items within the Seeker's 999 immediate area orrequested area.

On the other hand, some PBI 180 allows Seekers 999 to learn aboutinformation that is relevant to a different location. In this case, PBI180 could lead a Seeker 999 from their present location to a product orservice outside the Seeker's 999 immediate area. In FIG. 24, forexample, a Seeker 999 could request information for all hotels within acertain proximity to an airport, while this Seeker 999 was in anotherlocation or city.

Consequently, there can be many different sources of PBI 180 in anygiven environment and not all information available to the Seeker 999 isPBI 180. Other sources of information could be such content as, local,regional (or even global), and all information can be static or dynamic.

The need for PBI 180 has been ever present in the realm of humanexistence. For outdoor applications, many devices employ GlobalPositioning Satellites or GPS technology for tracking a specificlocation, but this technology is relatively expensive and on its own,can be unusable for many indoor applications.

Whether indoors or outdoors, getting on-site and/or location-sensitiveinformation can be difficult. Usually the Seeker 999 of this informationneeds to rely upon the information that is currently within their lineof sight and was posted or made available by a manager, promoter, orowner of the location site. These sources of information could be signs,pamphlets, product packaging, kiosks, video displays, audio speakers,TVs, VCRs, DVDs, radios, and other similar devices, or, as in manycases, sales people, docents, guides, random people within yourproximity, and/or other people made available by the informationproviders.

To be of the most value to the Seeker 999, all of these sources ofinformation should be knowledgeable, sometimes predictive, timely,accurate, cost-aware, trend-aware, and in the Seeker's 999 nativelanguage. What the Seeker 999 really needs is the perfect informationbooth. This booth would be managed by someone who is an expert oneverything, who is always available to the Seeker 999, not a stationarybooth, but one that goes wherever the Seeker 999 needs. Ideally thisinformation-booth-expert would promptly provide information that isaccurate and appropriate at each new location. With a LCAP 1076connected to the Internet, a Seeker 999 with an enabled device (TO-U)would have the means to retrieve this appropriate global, local, and PBI180 as needed and/or on demand.

Not all valuable PBI 180 is product related. In some cases, PBI 180provides convenience, entertainment, or added safety to the Seeker 999,but it also could supply disability assistance or foreign languageinterpretation. LCAP 1076 provides the means for the transmittal ofglobal, local, and PBI 180 in any appropriate environment according tothe goals of the PBI 180 provider and the entertainment, convenience,and safety of the PBI 180 Seeker 999.

All forms of information can be further enhanced with other metrics,such as cost, age, popularity, capabilities, and features. For example,a Seeker 999 could select product information regarding digital camerasbased on selecting a range for price, the number of days the camera hasbeen on the market, the length of the product's warranty, and itscurrent popularity rating.

“RING” 182—Regional Information within a Network Grid

To create location-defined PBI 180, one can delineate areas that relateto the level of relevance of information within an environment. An areaof relevance is called a “RING” 182 or Regional Information within aNetwork Grid. A RING 182 defines an area where something is eitherinside the RING 182 or outside the RING 182. RINGs 182 can be any shape,not necessarily oval or rectangular. A RING 182 can have as few as twopoints, c1 766 for the center and r1 770 for the radius, FIG. 25, orhave as many points as necessary to describe an enclosed area in twodimensional space, a RING can also exist as a three dimensional shape772, FIG. 25.

Environments such as retail stores can create a X and Y coordinatesystem, an X, Y, and Z coordinate system, or a X, Y, and floor numbercoordinate system to identify points within the environment. Once theenvironment establishes a 0, 0, 0 origin location, such as one of thefour corners of the store or the center of the store, the store canaccumulate coordinates defining other locations within the environment.These coordinates are stored in the database and can be associated withsuch things as Seekers 999, time, location, popularity, specificproducts, categories, and usage demand.

These three dimensional points can define the perimeter of a RING 182.Those items with coordinates located within a defined area are said tobe within that RING 182. These points that define the perimeter of aRING 182 can be input into a database using a number of methods. Thesepoints can be entered manually, by such methods as employees or Seekers999 with keypads and using some means of determining a number of X, Y,and Z coordinates relative to the origin.

A number of collected points can create an area associated to an itemcategory such as a product region, product aisle, or department Forexample, a RING 182 associated with a product could simply be the X, Y,Z coordinate of the product's location on the shelf and a predeterminedradius in a 2-dimensional plane that runs on the same plane as thefloor. Similar to manually entering the data, the X, Y, Z coordinates,these coordinates could also be generated from a known wireless trackingsystem and/or RFID system or (Radio Frequency Identification readers andRFID tags).

Still another method could employ mobile devices, such as mobile TO-Us200 that also have location tracking capabilities. For example, the X,Y, and Z coordinates of the mobile TO-U's 200 locations can be collectedas it is used and moves throughout the environment.

These coordinate collections can be based on several factors. One factorcould be based on time intervals, so that moment-by-moment timecomparisons of a Seeker's 999 usage could be compared. Another factorcould be the exact location of the mobile TO-U 200 when the Seeker 999actually requested information. So when a Seeker 999 requestsinformation regarding a particular item, an X, Y, Z coordinate is savedin the database that is associated with that particular item. A Seeker's999 request for information could be made through a number of means,such as entering a code associated with a product, using a barcodescanner, using an RFID reader, taking a photograph of a product andusing image recognition capabilities to determine a product in thedatabase, and/or selecting from items that appear on the TO-U's 200GO-UI 199.

The Seeker's 999 usage can continually improve the accuracy andsophistication of the database. At a LCAP 1076 with Seekers A and B andRefrigerators D and E for example, a Seeker A, requests informationregarding a Refrigerator D. This request would generate an X, Y, and Zcoordinate of the physical location of the mobile TO-U 200 at the timeof a request. This X, Y, and Z coordinate would be stored in thedatabase in association with Refrigerator D as shown in FIG. 26 as (10,20, 0).

If a Seeker B did not know the location of a specific refrigeratorcalled Refrigerator E, and the database did not presently contain a X,Y, Z coordinate 794 for Refrigerator E, the database could search forthe X, Y, Z coordinates of products that resided in the same productcategory. In this example, Refrigerator B is in the same category‘Refrigerators’ as Refrigerator D. Consequently the system could giveSeeker B the X, Y, Z coordinate of Refrigerator D as a general locationfor Refrigerator E.

This general location could be explained to the Seeker's 999 currentrelative location, a point on a map, or some other means of discerningthe refrigerator's location. The system could average the X, Y, Zcoordinates of all products within a department until actual X, Y, Zcoordinates were generated by an actual Seeker 999 request. The accuracyof these averages and assumptions would likely increase when moreSeekers 999 use mobile TO-Us 200 with tracking capabilities within theenvironment. Over time there could be tens, hundreds, thousands, evenmillions of X, Y, Z coordinates associated with Seeker 999 usage andSeeker 999 request locations.

Note: For FIGS. 27-40 that are drawn two dimensionally, each describedpoint could represent just X and Y and/or X, Y, and Z; wherein the Zdimension could be zero or the same value for all the points associatedwithin the same Figure.

FIG. 27 shows an overhead view of a range of points meeting certainconditions can also create a RING 182. Connecting the outer most pointsfrom a set of points that meet an established condition could create aRING 182. By using Points A, B, C, D, E, F, and G; to represent the X,Y, Z coordinate representing the locations for each request made by aSeeker or Seekers 999, one can create a RING 182 by connecting the outerpoints of A to B to E to G to F and back to A. Points C and D arelocated inside the range or inside the RING 182.

Depending on the conditions associated with these points, this RING 182could represent many such things such as a group of products or adepartment. These points could also represent unrelated products ordepartments. These points could be tied to a Seeker's 999 shoppinghistory, demographic, psycho-graphic, and/or the temporal information.

For example, a RING 182 could represent the most popular products viewedand/or purchased if the database is tied to the Point-Of-Sale systemwithin the environment. A RING 182 could also represent the most popularproducts viewed or purchased by Seekers 999 meeting certain demographicor psycho-graphic conditions, such as adults between the ages of 24 and29, assuming the mobile TO-U 200 Seeker 999 has his birth date saved inthe database.

A RING 182 could also represent the most popular products requestedwithin a time interval, such as within the last day, when the databasecalculates the number of requests associated with all points in thedatabase over the last day. A RING 182 could also represent the mostpopular products over a temporal condition such as today compared toyesterday.

FIG. 28 shows that conditions can be placed on collected coordinates toimprove the accuracy or value of the RING 182. When a RING 182 has a newpoint collected, that point either falls within the RING 182, or outsidethe RING 182. If the point fell outside the RING 182, the RING 182 wouldgrow by changing the perimeter and including this point if the point meta number of conditions. Using points H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R,and S; one could create a RING 182 by connecting HI, IK, KQ, QS, SP, PN,NM, and MH; and omit certain points, such as point R 778 if it meetscertain conditions or fails certain conditions.

These conditions could be temporal, such as only include new points onMondays and Saturdays between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, and/or acondition of distance, such as include all points that are within acertain distance of the current center of the area and/or include allpoints that are within a certain distance of a perimeter.

This could prevent the RING 182 shape from changing simply due to a RING182 associated item being scanned far from its traditional shelflocation. For example, a Seeker 999 who picked up a Rock genre music CD,could carry it to an area well outside the RING 182 that presentlydefines the area for Rock genre CD's within the store and requestinformation about it without destroying or changing the current RING 182shape that defines the Rock genre area, for this example called the“Rock RING”. The stray coordinate could be saved in the database so thatif the Rock music section had been moved to a new location within thestore, subsequent coordinates collected could meet a condition toredefine the Rock RING and/or the RING for the Rock CD.

For example, if coordinates for a particular Rock CD were beinggenerated frequently in an area outside the Rock RING, this would createa new RING 182 for this particular product but not necessarily a newRock RING. An example of this might be an area in the front of the storefor popular CD titles that is not located within the Rock RING. If onthe other hand, the occurrence of rock music requests in this new regiongrew to cover a significant number of Rock titles, then the Rock RINGcould be modified to include this new area.

Conditions could be set within the database so that the first Rock RINGcould add this second area without the two areas being connected intoone large area, but rather as separate areas. These conditions could bedetermined by the lack of activity in certain regions or the distancebetween points.

FIG. 29 shows one method to accomplish this, could be only connect thosepoints around the perimeter that are within a certain distance of eachother. Using points p1, p2, p3, p4, p5, p6, p7, p8, p9, p10, p11, p12,p13, p14, p15, p16, p17, p18, p19, and p20, a condition could beincluded so that a perimeter must only connect points that are within acertain distance and/or that are within a certain range of some othernumber of points. With this condition it is possible to create severalseparate perimeters. In FIG. 29, where the distance between p7 and p11is too wide to make a single enclosure. These two separate perimeterswould combine to create one Rock RING. If the activity in either ofthese separate perimeters dropped off significantly or completely,conditions could be established to remove one or both of these areasfrom the Rock RING.

Conditions associated with occurrences could also track the actuallocation of the last request made for a particular product. For example,a store employee/Seeker 198 may wish to see where the last knownlocation was for a particular item that cannot be found at its assignedshelf location.

To create conditions that are associated with an existing shape, size,and/or a center point of a RING 182, calculations need to be made todefine these components. These components would more than likely bedynamic and/or could be weighted based on such things as occurrences. InFIG. 30, for example, the center of the RING 182 would also be thecenter of the circle, whereas is in FIG. 31 the center of the RING 182could be shifted to the right when the number ofSeeker-request-occurrences are factored in to calculate the RING center754.

PBI 180 can have a variety of RINGs 182 associated to it. So instead ofhaving PBI 180 strictly associated to the Seeker's 999 location, a RING182 can also be associated with items.

In FIG. 32, for example, a microwave oven on the shelf within a retailstore could have a RING 182 a that creates a small radius around theproduct, so a Seeker/shopper 999 could request information within acertain distance of where the Seeker 999 is presently standing. Thatsame microwave oven could have another RING 182 b, FIG. 33, the shape ofthe aisle where all microwaves are located, and it could have anotherRING 182 c, FIG. 34, for the appliance department within the store.

The same type of microwave may have another RING 182 d, FIG. 35, forproducts that have been placed in a particular area of the departmentbecause the items were registered as part of a wedding registry, or adefined area for new products. The association of a Seeker's 999location and the RING 182 criteria the Seeker 999 has requesteddetermines what items are pulled from the database.

A single RING 182 for defining PBI 180 might range from just a few feetto hundreds of feet, depending upon the type of information and thecurrent conditions within that environment. For example, the mostcommonly used RING 182 for a product displayed in a retail store, mightstretch a few feet around the object or product where a customer wouldstand, while another RING 182 that helps Seekers 999 locate that sameproduct might encompass the entire store or shopping mall. The RING 182for locating the nearest restroom in a store might encompass the entirestore, if there is only one restroom. If on the other hand, there weretwo restrooms, each located at opposite ends of the store, then therecould be separate RINGs 182 defined for locating each. The nearestrestroom would be relevant to the Seeker's 999 current location or whichRING said Seeker was within.

A Seeker's 999 request for all microwaves within a certain price rangecould result in a large number of ovens, say twenty. This Seeker 999could request that the GO-UI 199 only display those ovens from the firstsearch result that are within a certain distance of the Seeker 999, sayforty feet. Now, there may be fewer ovens, especially if the store ormall has multiple locations for ovens.

“DOT”—Data Over Time

Some coordinates could be generated without the Seeker 999 requestinginformation. So even if a Seeker 999 moves throughout the environmentand never makes a request, this time interval data and appropriatelocation coordinate could still be collected. Each collected coordinateis a special point called a “DOT” or Data Over Time. Mobile trackingapplications that collect user information that also provide Content,generally require the Seeker 999 to login for Content. With at least oneembodiment of the system invention, a Seeker 999 could move about theenvironment benefiting from TAC 184 such as PBI 180 without having toenter his identity. This data collection of Seekers 999 over time alsoimproves the integrity of RINGs 182 for future Seekers 999.

For example, in an environment with multiple Seekers 999 carrying mobileTO-U's 200 with tracking capabilities, the system could collect the X,Y, and Z coordinates of each of the TO-Us 200 at selected timeintervals, each point creating a DOT. This would create RING 756 andRING 760 that define densities of Seekers 999 at a given time.

In cases where the RING for illustrating the Seeker 999 population at agiven moment created separate perimeters as shown in FIG. 36, theseseparate perimeters could create new RINGs. These new RINGs could befurther compared by such things as the types of Seekers 999 within eachRING or the number of Seekers 999 within each RING.

In FIG. 36, for example, RING 756 could represent the RING with the mostamount of Seekers 999 or the RING 757 with the most amount of productrequests at a given moment in time, while RING 760 could represent theRING with the least amount of Seekers 999, or the RING 761 with theleast amount of product requests. These RING patterns can be crossreferenced against over patterns in the database that could also be tiedto such things as sales volumes or potential theft problems. Thesepatterns could create alerts that would be sent to predetermined partiessuch as security, on-site management, or to someone at the retailer'sheadquarters.

Using Seeker 999 demographics, such as employees versus shoppers, morespecific RINGs 182 can be created. RINGs 182 could also be created todifferentiate relative movement of a Seeker 999 within the environment.Using historical data, RINGs 182 could be created that differentiate aparticular Seeker's 999 movement, such as by departments, by theirrelative speed, and/or by comparison to previous paths or paces.

“DOT Path”—Data Over Time Path

As the Seekers 999 move through an environment each DOT adds to thepath. This path is called a “DOT Path”. FIG. 37 shows a perimeter of aRING 182 that was created by assigning a width 812, such as 2 feet, tothe DOT path made of DOT 796, DOT, 798, DOT 800, and DOT 802.

In FIG. 38, the Seeker 999 initiates the usage of the TO-U 200 at DOT 1or p1. This initiation creates a new session. A session ends when aSeeker 999 logs out, or the TO-U 200 meets predetermined conditions,such as a lack of usage over a duration of time. This lack of usage canbe determined by the lack of interface entries made with GO-UI 199 onthe TO-U 200 and/or by the lack of movement by the TO-U 200 as monitoredby the tracking capabilities. For example if the TO-U 200 was set down,the tracking software could dictate that the unit was stationary andafter a certain amount of time the current session would be timed out.In FIG. 38 the end of the session timed out at DOT 25, but typicallywould not get connected to DOT1 or p1.

FIG. 39, shows a path made over time from DOT 804, DOT 806, DOT 808, andDOT 810, and with an assigned two foot width. Additional factors such asTO-U 200 usage or dwell times could be illustrated on the RING 182 withcolor codes, such as blue for the areas with the least dwell timesrelative to red areas where the Seeker 999 had the highest density ofDOTs.

(Automated Computerized Sensors)

In addition Boolean operations can be performed between different typesof RINGs 182. For example, RING A or RING 780 in FIG. 40 could representthe area for country music or the Country RING and RING B or RING 784could represent a 20-foot radius around a Seeker 999. The intersectionof these two RINGs creates an area 782 that defines the country musicthat is within 20 feet of the Seeker 999.

The Distribution Subsystem

The Distribution Subsystem allows Seekers 999 to interact with Contentthat has been targeted to the Seeker's 999 location by the COPP 1070 orthat has been created locally. These locations are called CAPs (ContentAccess Providers) 1004.

Some location sites have local Content redistribution called Local CAPSand those that do not are called Remote CAPs 1004 or RCAPS. Withinremote and local CAPs are two more distinctions, those that havestrictly hardwired TO-U 200 access and those that also offer mobile TO-U200 access. The two types of Local CAPs 1004 are:

1. A “MAP” or Mobile Access Provider 1020, FIG. 4, is a LCAP 1026 thatprovides mobile interactive access to the Content. Generally a MAPallows Seekers 999 to use mobile “TO-Us” or Transceiver Operating-Unitsvia a distribution network of “TAPs” or Transceiver Access Points 1084that are connected to a “LCS” 1136 or Local Content Server, but can alsohave stationary access in addition to mobile access. These MAPs 1020 canbe public or residential, but typically are commercial.

2. A “SAP” or Stationary Access Provider, 1026, FIG. 4, is a LCAP 1026that provides only stationary interactive access to the Content and nomobile access. Generally a SAP allows Seekers 999 to use stationary“TO-Us” or Transceiver Operating-Units that are hardwired 1014 connectedto a “LCS” 1136 or Local Content Server. These SAPs can be public orresidential, but typically are commercial.

The two types of Remote CAPs 1004 are:

1. A “MOC” or Mobile Online Connection 1022, FIG. 4, is a RCAP 1006 thatprovides mobile interactive access to the Content, but does not have aLCS 1136. These MOCs can be commercial, residential, or public sites.

2. A “ROC” or Remote Online Connection 1024, FIG. 4, is a RCAP 1006 thatallows Seekers 999 to interact with Content through an online or networkconnection, but does not provide mobile access. These ROCs can becommercial, residential, or public sites.

Each MAP 1020 is comprised of two high-level components:

1. Local Content Server (LCS) 1136, FIG. 4, is the on-site Contentsource. The on-site Content is transmitted by the TAPs 1084 (TransceiverAccess Points, see below) and thereby delivered to the Seeker's 999 TO-U200. The LCS 1136 is usually connected to the TAPs 1084 through a wirednetwork 1014, but nothing about the system demands that theseserver-to-transceiver links be wired. The MAP 1020 could be a PC-likeSubsystem element into which the information database can be loaded andcontinually updated since sources of information can be either fixed,slowly evolving, or create and modified in real-time.

2. Transceiver Access Point (TAP) 1084, FIG. 4, is theinformation-distribution-Subsystem in a network of wireless-transceiverscalled TAPs 1084, each positioned and spaced appropriately throughoutthe facility or environment. In function, even if not in implementation,the TAPs 1084 are similar to the Access Points of an 802.11 wirelessnetwork system. The reception distance or range of the wirelesscommunications 1144 between the TAPs and the Transceiver Operating-Unit1084 is dependent upon the environment and the number of Seekers 999anticipated in any given area, but is normally a minimum of a few feet,and a maximum of a few hundred feet.

FIG. 41 show that some MAPs 1020 contain “LOTS” or Limited On-siteTransceiver and Server 194. This on-site server contains enough hardwareto be an all-in-one source, distribution, monitoring system, andinteraction system containing the MAP 1020, a SOD 176 or StationeryOperating Device (a type of TO-U 200, such as a computer), and adistribution transceiver. Additional distribution can be connected toLOTS 194 as needed.

The communication range of a TAP is intentionally limited to maximizebandwidth availability throughout the site. TAPs 1084 can distributeinformation to TO-Us 200 that are within service range. This range cancreate a RING 182 (as described earlier), but there can be several otherdefined RINGs 182 for PBI 180 on the system, and a TAP 1084 is not thesame as a RING 182. Some TAPs 1084 could have their reception range varydepending on conditions within the environment, such as the number ofSeekers 999 currently within a particular area, or the time of day.

The Interaction Subsystem

The Content Interaction Subsystem comprises of:

1. Hardware, the Transceiver Operating-Unit (“TO-U”) 200 and

2. Software, the Graphical Operating-User Interface (“GO-UI”) 199.

“TO-U”—the information Interaction Subsystem hardware element is theTO-U 200. Typically a TO-U 200 has an ability to input commands,retrieve Content in many forms, and interacts with Content via theDistribution Subsystem.

The TO-U 200 could be a stationary or mobile device. As a mobile deviceit could be worn or carried by the Seeker 999. It delivers 1) audio andvisual outputs of Content and other information as provided by thedistribution Subsystem, 2) a means for the Seeker 999 to input requests,and possibly setup up information profiles, and place commands throughthe TO-U 200, and 3) as a wireless device, a wireless communicationmeans appropriate for communication with the distribution Subsystem.Some information read or played on the TO-U 200 can be replayed orrepeated as often as needed, slowed down, rewound, or sped up. TheseTO-Us 200 can also store information for later use.

Unlike some wireless devices and/or applications that require an activeconnection to communicate or collect information, these TO-Us 200 canretrieve information on demand and as needed, while within a MAP 1020.Data transmission can be accomplished in bursts. These data bursts canupdate information on the TO-U 200 as requested, or totally transparentto the end-user/Seeker 999. If an end-user/Seeker 999 stays in theenvironment for an extended period of time, the TO-U 200 could be set toaccept incremental changes as they occur, set to a particular timeinterval for updates, set to update only when requested, or as they moveabout the location.

These updates can be assigned to different level of information orconditions. For example, some updates such as price changes, may happenautomatically. Some updates may only occur as the Seeker 999 moves intonew locations. Some updates such as the popularity of a particular DVDwithin a video rental store may only be updated daily. Some Seekers 999may request information based on previous conditions, such as the mostpopular DVD last week in this store location or based on the popularityat another store location or city.

TO-Us 200 will have a method of inputting a Seeker's 999 request forinformation. This could be through a graphical user interface with: 1)designated buttons and a touch screen or pen-based screen, 2) a thumbwheel or jog rocker type control for menu selections, 3) a numberkeypad, 4) a text keypad, 5) a mouse, 6) a track ball, 7) a joy-stick,8) navigation pad, 9) voice commands, 10) barcode scanner, 11) RFIDreader, 12) optical reader, 13) image recognition, and 14) anycombination of the previous thirteen.

At a minimum the TO-U 200 would need at least one of the above inputcapability, such as a touch screen. In addition, the TO-U 200 wouldbenefit from a built-in RF antenna, such as 80.11b, for mobility andportability. Even stationary TO-Us 200 could benefit from an RF antennafor less cabling or occasional location changes.

In addition the TO-U 200 would benefit from a barcode scanner and/orRFID reader. For mobile TO-Us 200, Seekers 999 can barcode scan aparticular product for information specific to that product or totrigger certain events. Stationary TO-Us 200 would also benefit from abar code scanner and/or RFID reader.

Seekers 999 with mobile TO-Us 200 who scan product information withinthe store are adding to the database. For example, as Seekers 999 scan aparticular product, the Seeker's 999 location and the particular productrequested are recorded in the database. If the product was missing alocation coordinate as described earlier under RINGs 182, the databasecould store this new coordinate. As more Seekers 999 scan the product,the database could begin to approximate where the product is locatedwithin the store.

In addition, Seekers 999 could give feedback regarding information. Ifinformation is inaccurate or confusing, Seeker's 999 can leave feedback.This feedback could be as simple as telling an employee, to assophisticated as, entering a detailed complaint or comment. Someinformation would provide simple emoticons for Seeker's 999 to leavetheir feedback. For example, after sampling a song on a CD, the Seeker999 could select one of three emoticons regarding their level ofinterest in the song. Emoticons such as a smiley face for a “strongappreciation”, a non-emotional face for “indifferent” or its “average”,and a frown representing they “disliked” the song.

TO-Us 200 with barcode scanners can have functions or features promptedwhen images are scanned or when items with a RFID tag are read. Thisinformation and features can be combined with PBI 180 and RINGs 182 tocreate unique features also (see PBI 180 and RINGs 182).

The audio information received by the TO-U 200 can be played viaspeakers in the device, speakers in the environment, or through anearpiece. Some mobile TO-Us 200 will allow the Seeker 999 to also beable to place his handheld up to the ear and hear audio messages,similar to a telephone handset. Some advanced mobile TO-Us 200 couldhave built-in transmitters for sending a wireless signal to an earpiece,thus eliminating the need for a wire output. Some mobile TO-Us 200 couldtransmit their audio to another TO-U 200 or speaker system. If thespeaker system was directional the audio could follow the Seeker 999without annoying others in the environment.

There are four top-level types of TO-Us:

1. A “MOD” 172 or Mobile Operating Device is a TO-U 200 that interactswith the Distribution Subsystem via an enabled “non-proprietary mobiledevice”. MODs 172 can operate outside a wireless network with theinformation that is stored local to the device, but for constant updatesthe device generally needs to be within range of a wireless local areanetwork.

2. A “POD” 170 or Proprietary Operating Device is also a mobile TO-U 200that interacts with the Distribution Subsystem via an enable“proprietary mobile device”. PODs 170 can operate outside a wirelessnetwork with the information that is stored local to the device, but forconstant updates the device generally needs to be within range of awireless local area network.

3. A “WOD” 174 or Wireless Operating Device is a TO-U 200 that interactswith the Distribution Subsystem via a wireless local area network, butthe hardware is stationary.

4. A “SOD” 176 or Stationary Operating Device is a TO-U 200 thatinteracts with the Distribution Subsystem via hardwired-enabledhardware. Typically through a computer attached to a local area network.When a computer is acting as a SOD 176, the SOD 176 can have additionalSODs 176 networked to it. When a wireless network is attached to thesame computer acting as a SOD 176, the SOD 176 can have PODs 170, MODs172, and WODs 174 networked to the original computer/SOD 176.

FIG. 42 is a flowchart describing a Seeker 999 GO-UI 199 request 1182within a CAP 1004. Such a request could be initiated when a Seeker 999selects an item using the GO-UI 199 on a TO-U 200, such as scanning aproduct with a barcode reader, selecting a song track of a music CD, orany other request using GO-UI 199.

The Seeker 999 request 1182 uses a means to communicate with the LCS1136, such as a wired or wireless network FIG. 50. This Seeker 999request is time stamped and provided a location coordinate from theproximity estimator 1142 at the time of the request. This coordinatesystem could be a three dimensional (X, Y, and Z) coordinate that isstored in the LCS 1136 at step 882.

This multiple component identification of the item requested, the X, Y,and Z coordinate, and the time stamp data are then added to existing PBI180 in step 884, such as the PBI 180 and numerous RINGs 182 that theparticular item scanned associates. Incoming data associations increasethe sampling rate of items that have been requested and in general,further increase the accuracy and the reliability of the PBI 180 as instep 886. This update step 886 is stored in the PBI database 180.

Step 888 retrieves the information requested using a number of databasesthat are connected to the LCS 1136, such as the FLT 870, PBI 180, D-FACS874, MUN 878, Third Party 880, the Asset Management 876, the POS 178(Point-of-Sale), the Employee Management 896 and the LCAP Info 872databases. The LCAP Info 872 database ideally contains all the contentnot listed in the other databases that is required for the Seeker's 999request 1182 within the location, such as in-store services and productinformation. The content on LCAP Info 872 database can be associatedwith the data and TACS 184 stored on the other databases (describedlater).

The retrieve information step 888 submits a query to the LCAP Info 872database and uses any needed associates with the other databases tocomplete the request. The information relevant to the Seeker's 999request is sent to the Seeker's 999 TO-U 200 using a wired or wirelessconnection.

Some LCAPs 1076 that may allow a Seeker 999 to request such informationsuch as news, sports scores, expert opinions, etc, could store suchinformation in a third party database 880. In addition this retrievedinformation can initiate a CRM Engine 892 or Customer RelationsManagement Engine connected to the CRM 898 database. The CRM engine 892could process any needed personalization, that is associated with theSeeker's 999 request 1182. In addition, the CRM engine could pulldemographics about the Seeker 999, if his identity is known, as with acustomer loyalty login within the GO-UI 199.

The CRM data may associate with databases such as the FLT 870, PBI 180,D-FACS 874, MUN 878, Third Party 880, the Asset Management 876, the POS178 (Point-of-Sale), the Employee Management 896, and the LCAP Info 872.In combination with demographics gathered from loyal Seekers 999 andanonymous Seekers 999, predictive analysis 894 prepares and selectsinformation from the above mentioned databases attempting to anticipatethe Seeker's 999 next GO-UI 199 request 1182. Such anticipationtechniques can deliver future information to Seekers 999 and buffer thisinformation on a TO-U 200, thus optimizing Seeker 999 queries against aLCS 1136.

The FLT 870 database typically stores foreign language translationinformation and TACs 184 related with the LCAP Info 872. The PBI 180database typically stores proximity information and TACs 184 related tothe LCAP Info 872. The D-FACS 874 database typically stores informationor “Data-From Automated Computer Sensors” and TACs 184 related to theLCAP Info 872. The MUN 878 database typically stores match-upnotifications (explained later) and TACs 184 that are related to theLCAP Info 872.

The Asset Management 876 and Employee Management 896 database isgenerally where information about objects, services, employees and otherresources are stored. Various metrics about the data in this databasecan be accessed and related to the LCAP Info 872 database. For example,in retail environments the Asset Management 876 database could provideinformation about how many products are currently in stock, on order,and the estimated delivery time. It could also cross-reference theentire retail chain database for inventory at other locations.

The POS 178 database is generally where on-site pricing informationabout objects and services is stored. Various metrics about the data inthis database can be accessed. Using Seekers A and B for example, whereSeeker A purchased an item using the TO-U 200 or at the check out areaof the store, the POS 178 database could be updated, so that the nextSeeker 999, Seeker B would see an updated inventory within his GO-UI199.

The Third Party 880 database typically stores and categorizesinformation from various third parties. Such third parties could provideproduct reviews, expert opinions, news feeds, sports, and entertainment.This information can be available on a TO-U 200 device within a CAP 1076to the Seeker 999. The retailer and/or Seekers 999 could pay a fee forthis service.

GO-UI 199

The “GO-UI” 199 or Graphical Operating-User Interface—is the end-user'sor Seeker's 999 software to access and interact with the Content onenabled-devices (TO-Us 200). There can be several types of GO-UIs 199users:

Random customers, who do not have to login to use the Content.

Loyal customers, who login and receive, added features.

Random employees, who do not have to login to use the Content.

Logged-in employees who receive added features.

Random third parties, such as management, consultants, manufacturers,advertisers, etc., who do not have to login to use the Content.

Logged-in above third parties who receive added features.

“GO-UI”—Graphical Operating-Unit Interface 199

Some TO-Us 200 will have additional features that allow users/Seekers999 to submit, send, save, or forward information. For example, a Seeker999 could forward information retrieved on the TO-U 200 to someoneelse's TO-U 200, or to a system such as an email address. Some GO-UI's199 will have the ability to setup a Seeker's 999 personal interestprofile. For example, the Seeker 999 could create a profile with aspecific sports team or stock symbol, so that each time the Seeker 999requests the latest sports score or current market price they do nothave to wade through all other sports scores or stock prices. Thisprofile could also be set to automatically show updates, based onpredetermined changes in the score or price.

In addition, the Seeker 999 could request that the TO-U 200 set off avibration alert if they are within the proximity of some predeterminedinformation or another TO-U 200 Seeker 999 that fits a criteria. At atrade show for example, a Seeker/attendee may create a profile list ofspecific industry topics that they are interested in, such as plasmascreen TVs'. Then the TO-U 200 would vibrate if they were near a boothdisplaying plasma screen TVs. The Seeker 999 could in turn play amessage with corresponding information as to what is the product, whereis the booth, and who is available currently to meet. This technologycould be used for singles at a bar, job Seekers 999 at a job fair, orconsultants at a trade show.

Some graphical user interface functionality and menus can be storedinternally in the TO-U 200. In addition, some Content can be pre-loadedon the TO-U 200. This reduces the seek times and some informationretrieval delays. It also provides a visual search menu for the Seeker999 to start searching the local database of available information. At atrade show the Seeker 999 might see a list of trade show exhibitors,where as at a music store, the Seeker 999 may see a list of musicalartists. All information or music would not have to be loaded on theTO-U 200 for the Seeker 999 to be able to search a product list (seeData Transmission below).

A retailer's sales staff 198 could have unique functions on their TO-U's200 for things such as detailed product searches. Thus allowing staff198 to locate a product by several means such as by productmanufacturer, product category, price range, age in inventory,popularity, product specifications, and/or by product names. Forexample, a staff member could search for all SONY Playstation2 gamesthat have come into inventory within the last 30 days that cost between20 and 30 dollars. Then they could sort the results based on popularitycriteria. FIG. 43 is a flow chart describing the process of applyingpopularity to a Seeker 999 request.

The GO-UI 199 would allow the staff member to look at search resultsproduct by product. Each product page would have further detailsavailable, such as the quantity in inventory, suggested accessories,other popular items purchased while purchasing this item, and a list ofmost frequently asked questions associated with this particular product.This information could be shared with the shopper verbally, or theinformation could be transmitted to the shoppers TO-U 200 for their ownpersonal use.

The TO-Us 200 used by a retailer's staff could require the employee tolog into the system. This login would retrieve information for thatspecific employee, such information as time and attendance, work duties,vacation time available, company policies, and communications. Thesecommunications could be text messages, voice messages, voicecapabilities, or training material. For example, a manufacturer couldcreate training material using the PCMS 1086 and distribute it toparticular retailers for training purposes.

Retailers could have graphical user interfaces unique for differentshoppers. At hardware stores for example, interfaces could be differentfor general customers versus contractors. At electronics stores,interfaces could be different based on peoples interests or demographic.Some features could be made available to loyal shoppers. For example,the ability to retrieve a previous purchased item could be madeavailable to loyal shoppers. This previous shopping list could note theitem name, so that one could retrieve the name and model number of aparticular kind of computer printer ink, complete with where it islocated in the store.

Guide Mode

Retailers could also highlight new products or items on sale that theyoften publish in their weekly circulars, but now they could adjust thesales price of those items that were featured store by store, hour byhour, or based on current demand.

Retailers could also provide guided tours within their stores. Theseguided tours on the TO-U 200 devices could be given by a number ofsources, including industry experts, designers, celebrities, or friendsand family. At a hardware store for example, the host of the TV show“This Old House” could give a guided tour of renovation projects forshoppers considering a remodeling project, complete with tools andproducts needed, the products location within the store, andinstallation requirements.

At an electronics store for example, parents could retrieve guided tourscreated by their children online at home that describes their Christmaswish list. Experts from consumer reports could point shoppers to awardwinning category winners throughout the store. In-store shoppers/Seekers999 could send items of interest through the network and people onlineat home could review and respond later or in near real-time.

Tour Mode

As a Seeker 999, there are times when information will be delivered to aTO-U 200 without a Seeker 999 being involved in the informationselection process. “Tour Mode” is a method to deliver information to aSeeker's 999 TO-U 200 that is proximity based. Information isdistributed to a TO-U 200 device using proximity as the selectioncriteria based on a location where a Seeker 999 is currently “touring” aLCAP. One benefit of Tour Mode is that a Seeker 999 can be made aware ofproducts based on a set of conditions such as the most popular productswithin a department.

Such a capability is accomplished by using existing tracking methods.FIG. 44, is a flow diagram that depicts the logical flow of informationto the Seeker's 999 TO-U 200. When a Seeker 999 walks through variousdepartments within LCAP 1076, the Seeker 999 would have an option withinthe GO-UI to enter Tour Mode. When Tour Mode begins, a tour modeexplanation 303 screen will come up. Such a screen will allow Seekers999 who never experienced Tour Mode to learn about it. In addition therewill be an option to skip 303 such an explanation for those who arefamiliar with the Tour Mode concept.

A Tour Mode setting that pops-up with an explanation screen can also beconfigured in a Seeker's 999 profile for situations where a Seeker is aloyal shopper and has a login assigned to him. As the Seeker decideswhether to skip a Tour Mode explanation 303 screen, pre-existingtracking software running at the LCAP 1076 calculates said Seeker's 999proximity and collects a set of proximity data 303 Seeker's 999 TO-U200.

As the information appears on Seeker's 999 GO-UI 199, the Seeker has achoice to, select the information appearing in the GO-UI 199 orinterrupt Tour Mode with another operation such as bar code scanning.Once a product is scanned and information is retrieved via a wireless,such as an 802.11, or wired, such as Ethernet, network from a LCS 1136,the information is delivered to the TO-U 200. There can be proximityinformation 303 available for this scanned product. For example, aSeeker 999 can be purchasing a DVD player, proximity information aboutthis DVD player may include location of cables for this player and alocation of a stand for Seeker's 999 electronic equipment. Suchproximity information 303 can be delivered to the TO-U 200 as well,benefiting a Seeker 999 by offering related information to the currentproduct.

In Guide Mode for example, a Seeker 999 could listen to an audio clipregarding a lawnmower that describes the unique leaf collectorattachment, followed by an audio description of other features. Unlikeonline shopping, the Seeker 999 can physically interact with thepotential purchase to determine the ease of use and/or benefits of thesefeatures. In addition, as described in the audio, the Seeker can rewindthe information and reuse it as needed and forward information to theSeeker's home email for later use.

FIG. 45 describes an example, where a Seeker is shopping in a hardwarestore. The Seeker could select a hardware project 728 using the GO-UI199 on his TO-U 200. The GO-UI 199 could offer the Seeker 999 a range ofselections, such as, is this a “New” 720 project or is this a “Remodel”738 project?

The Seeker's 999 selection, “Remodel” 738 for this example. Next a listof potential remodeling projects appears in said Seeker's 999 GO-UI 199,such as “kitchen 733, bathroom 735, and other 737 (bedroom, living room,deck, garage, etc)”. Once the Seeker 999 selected the appropriateselection, “kitchen” 733 for this example, then kitchen 733 would becomethe “Select Item” 732 or project.

Next the GO-UI 199 could give the Seeker 999 a potential list of itemsneeded for the remodeling project, such as “sinks, countertops, windows,cub-boards, stove, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, flooring,lighting, and venting”. The Seeker 999 could then either select orreject items needed from the list shown as “Select Item To Add-On” 734in FIG. 45.

Once the item list was completed, the GO-UI 199 would offer the Seeker999 another list of potential choices, such as how-to locate the itemsusing “Map Location” 722 where the GO-UI 199 shows where each item islocated, “Show Examples” 724 where the GO-UI 199 shows images ofcompleted projects and/or plays audio clips of professional suggestions,“Input Dimensions” 725 where the Seeker 999 can input the actualdimensions of his kitchen for pricing and sizing purposes, and “Other”726 for potential conditions that would fit a particular project such asthe availability and cost for a local installer to complete the project.

In addition, if items are out of stock the GO-UI 199 could offer otherstore locations with the item in-stock and/or the option to order theitem straight from the GO-UT 199 without any staff involvement. When aSeeker 999 selects items, such as a bathtub, the GO-UI 199 could showcolor choices, the most popular colors as selected by other Seekers,in-store designer suggestions, and a list of installations tips thatcould be forwarded to the Seeker's 999 home email account.

Data Transmission

Once the Seeker 999 selects a particular item, the database can use thisselection to predict what the Seeker 999 is mostly likely to selectnext, based on other Seekers 999 who have requested that same material.If the Seeker 999 began examining some information or listening to aparticular audio clip, the database could begin to transmit the data theSeeker 999 is most likely to request next totally transparent to theSeeker 999. When the Seeker 999 selects information that the networkanticipated the Seeker 999 would request, this information is availableon-request with little-to-no delay.

The amount of data sent to a Seeker's 999 TO-U 200 anticipating theSeeker's 999 next request would follow a number of conditions, such asthe amount of memory available on the Seeker's 999 TO-U 200, the numberof Seeker's 999 on the system, the current demand on the Seeker's 999current TAP 1084 Information sent to the Seeker's 999 TO-U 200 could betagged, monitored, saved, and/or removed. Information that was viewedthe longest, for example, could have a priority in the TO-U's 200 memoryover items that have been viewed less, down to items not viewed at all.

Depending on the Seeker's 999 usage, the TO-U 200 could delete unused orinfrequently used items in the TO-Us 200 memory, so the Seeker's 999experience is faster and more enjoyable. The TO-U 200 could retain amemory list of items viewed, so if the Seeker 999 requested an itemviewed much earlier, the network could still retrieve that informationfrom the database.

To-Do Lists

When a Seeker 999 locates information or an activity, the Seeker 999 cansave that information to a “to-do list”. For example, at a trade show aSeeker 999 could search for product demo times from a particularexhibitor. This Seeker 999 could select a convenient demo time and addit to their “to-do list”. The TO-U 200 would notify the Seeker 999 ofany schedule conflicts when saving the selected appointment. This “to-dolist” can be recalled, saved and/or revised. In addition, the TO-U 200could notify the Seeker 999 if the event, or exhibitor, cancels orre-schedules any items on the Seeker's 999 “to-do list”.

The Monitoring Subsystem.

The Content monitoring-Subsystem is the “RMS” or Resource ManagementSoftware. RMS tracks system usage for both hardware and software.

For example, this software can track the number of TO-Us 200 currentlybeing used by Seekers 999. If these Seekers 999 have uniqueidentifications, such as shoppers, management, and staff, the softwaredisplays the numbers associated with each. This software also hassub-systems for “RTMI” or Real-Time Market Intelligence and “ISEQ” orIn-store Employee Queuing (explained later).

In addition to creating more pervasive locations, this monitoringservice provides visitors and locations with an ability to haveinteractive feedback. Locations will have an ability to have a “window”into how their services are effecting and benefiting the Seekers 999 inreal-time. Seekers 999 new to the environment benefit from the feedbackand usage data created by Seekers 999 who previously used the system.

Information Flow

The system is designed to allow a large flow of information from theprovider to a multitude of Seekers 999 at any given time. But thisinformation flow is not strictly one-way: provider to the Seeker 999.The provider can obtain valuable feedback and marketing data by askingthe Seeker 999 questions or monitoring customer traffic flow patterns.This data returned to the provider from the Seeker 999 can be donewithout disclosing the Seeker's 999 personal identity, it can be storedon-site, linked to other sources, tabulated, monitored, and/or madeimmediately available.

The PBI 180 that is appropriate and available to any Seeker's 999location is provided both on-demand and in some cases Content can be“rewound” as needed. Each Seeker 999 could have options on howinformation is retrieved. One option may be to pull information ondemand, another option would be to pre-set a personal profile, allowingthe network to participate in selecting information. Yet another optionwould be to let your location entirely dictate what information iscurrently available. Settings could allow for variations or combinationsof these options.

In an airport for example, the Seeker 999 could request informationabout ground transportation that is available locally. From that list ofoptions, the Seeker 999 could request all rental car companies within acertain proximity. Next, the Seeker 999 could let the TO-U 200 showpromotions that are pushed to the TO-U 200. In addition, the Seeker 999can store this information within the Seeker's wireless TO-U 200; theycan replay this information over as needed, even outside the LCAP 1076.The prompt availability of global, local, and PBI 180 to meet eachindividual Seeker's 999 needs on his time schedule and pace is animportant benefit of the system.

Seeker 999 Feedback and Usage Data

Besides PBI 180 information Seekers 999 can also obtain relevant localand global information. At a retail location for example, an informationSeeker 999 could be a shopper, a sales clerk, management, vendor, orinterested third party such as an advertising executive.

As a shopper, local information such as how to find products,departments, and staff help could be available on the TO-U 200. Inaddition, shoppers could receive information such as productspecifications or sample music, movies, or video games. The popularityof these products could be displayed based on a number of methodsincluding their popularity nationwide, their popularity among similardemographic profiles, similar geographic profiles, or temporal profiles.This data can also be collected, monitored, and utilized by the retailstaff, management, and/or their product suppliers.

For example, the popularity of a particular video game could be based onSeekers' 999 requests for that the game and popularity results could becompared city versus city, store versus store, or time versus anothertime. This data creates new information that could be used globallythroughout the network for other Seekers 999 and information monitors.

Seekers/Shoppers could provide retailers and manufacturers feedbackregarding products, services, and employees. This feedback improvesservice and could also provide the Seeker/shopper with discounts. At aretail store for example, the Seeker 999 could register their feedbackon a particular DVD movie (1—for outstanding, 2—for better than average,3—for just okay, and 4—for below average). This Seeker 999 would then beable to receive back the data as to how other Seekers 999 have rated thesame movie. If the Seeker 999 enjoyed the movie, he/she could alsoobtain suggestions for other movies from those who had a similarviewpoint, joining the video club., and/or purchase incentives.

Some Seeker 999 usage data is created even if the Seeker 999 does notrequest information. For example, the amount of time a Seeker 999 spendsin a particular area can be tracked and measured against other Seekers999. This data becomes even more sophisticated when you incorporate theSeeker's 999 actual information requested. For example, you may discoverthat Seekers 999 that request information regarding a particular videogame also tend to spend time in front of the more expensive plasma TVs.

The exact location where information was requested also has powerfulsignificance. For example, a retailer may discover that two stores withthe exact same product display are receiving substantially differentnumbers of information requests from Seekers 999. In one store, theproduct displayed may be receiving many requests when located right nextto the new DVD release section, but in the other store this same productdisplay receives very few request placed only one aisle away from thenew DVD release section.

If both product displays were thought to be located in approximately thesame location, but they were still receiving substantially differentSeeker 999 requests, further research may discover that one display isactually damaged or management may discover what works well for onestore, may not work well in all others. Nuances such as where are theSeekers 999 standing relative to a product when the actual request forinformation is made (i.e. from the right, center, or the left of theproduct) can become very significant. This data can be monitoredstore-by-store, aisle-by-aisle, minute-by-minute, and in real-time.

Real-Time Feedback

At a restaurant enabled with the wireless service, patrons could use theTO-U 200 for a number of applications. People waiting for a table couldbe notified on their TO-U 200 that their table was ready. People waitingcould listen to promotions within the community, play interactive gameswith others, or at some locations—hear and see the actual menu ornightly specials on their TO-U 200. Perhaps they cold even preorderreducing the time spent at the table and freeing up the resource formore revenue during peak periods.

The table's order could appear on the handheld complete with the runningtotal. Diners/Seekers could notify the wait staff of any additionalrequests or they could flag an individual item listed on the TO-U 200for a refill. Feedback on food and service quality could be entered andmeasured in real-time. This information is time-stamped and can be usedlater to determine which server or cook was on duty at that time. Theinformation collected could be uploaded for franchises. These on-siteservices would allow management to be alerted in real-time about areasof concern.

In the past, a customer may have had to hand over their opinions to theperson or persons they were being critical of. Since the system allows acustomer's feedback to be observed instantaneously, perhaps a managercould remedy a negative situation before the Seeker/customer evenleaves. If this feedback was done over the Internet, the restaurantmanager or owner might not know which restaurant or store theSeeker/customer was in.

In another example, customers looking at a new digital camera could beasked to rank the importance of 1) digital resolution, 2) storagecapacity, 3) cost, 4) size, and 5) ease of use. No one needs to walk upand bother the customer, and the customer is under no obligation toanswer. Unlike most Web sites, the network does not force a customer tolog in with their personal information.

Some applications would allow the Seeker 999 to not only providefeedback, but also order service. These requests for service could befor a wide range of needs, from requesting a waiter's help out at theswimming pool to ordering tickets for an event while standing in line.The TO-U 200 would allow Seekers 999 to explain why they are returning aretail item while still in the return line. They could also start tofill out any return form information, thus speeding up the returnprocess.

At a trade show, exhibitors could use their handhelds to check off whatservices are active and which still need to be delivered or turned on attheir booth. The exhibitor could review a checklist with such questionsas:

have their booth crates been delivered to their booth,

has their booth been properly installed/setup,

is their carpet installed,

is their overhead signage installed,

is their in-booth telephone service on or off,

do they have or need an active Internet connection,

do they have or need a badge scanner,

do they plan to use models or audio in their booth, and/or

is the information printed in the directory correct?

This information can then in turn be sent to a computer monitoringstation, where the event sponsor and venue host can track those booth'sneeding attention. The sponsor or venue could also ask the exhibitor:

if they have provided proof of insurance,

do they wish to serve food or drinks from their booth,

are they registered for next year's show, and/or

are they a member of their trade organization?

Help Queuing

“Help Queuing” uses both hardware and software to provide a Seeker 999the ability to request human assistance while within LCAP 1076, FIG. 46.During a shopping experience for example, a Seeker 999 realizes theyrequire human assistance. FIG. 50 illustrates a map of a retail locationwhere there are three Seekers 999 carrying mobile TO-Us 200 as well asan Employee 198 carrying a mobile TO-U 200. Generally it can bedifficult to find the best on-site employee 460, FIG. 58, who canconcisely and accurately answer the Seeker's question. When a Seeker 999requests assistance using a TO-U 200, an employee 198 is eitherimmediately or eventually assigned to that Seeker 999.

If the Seeker 999 requests an employee 198 with a particular expertiseor condition, an employee who meets that condition will be assigned tothat Seeker 999 if the employee is available. If all employees who meetthe requested condition are busy, the Seeker 999 will be notified that await period is necessary. This wait period can be shown to the Seeker999 as either temporal, by the quantity of Seekers 999 who proceed him,or a combination. Once an employee who meets the Seeker's 999 requestedcondition is available, the employee is notified to help this particularSeeker 999.

Help Queuing provides Seekers 999 the ability to request help anytime,as needed. If a particular expertise requires the Seeker 999 to wait,the Seeker is free to continue shopping/browsing for other needs duringthis period. Using tracking the particular employee the Seeker 999requires will find the Seeker 999 when the employee becomes available.In many of today's retail environments for example, shoppers/seekersneed to follow an employee along with a trail of other waitingshoppers/seekers, often only to find out that this particular employeedoes not have the proper expertise.

This locating-employees by capabilities is based on a range ofconditions such as the employee's department, current location, skilllevel and/or availability. Other employees or management can also becomeSeekers 999 and use this locating feature. The application can identifythe employee with a number of conditions, such as:

1. staffs name 466.

2. identification number.

3. color codes,

4. department code 452,

5. expertise codes 476,

6. availability codes 470,

7. feedback rating codes 456,

8. proximity codes,

9. tenure codes 560,

10. picture of staff 558, and/or

11. a combination of the above.

“Help Queuing” can be launched by a Seeker's TO-U 200 GO-UI 199 using abutton that is labeled “Call Staff” 398 FIG. 54. If Seeker 999 is placedin Queue, he is welcome to walk around and Staff will come find him whenhe is next for help.

There are four main components to “Help Queuing”:

1. The Overall Queuing Module or “TO-QM”—This software runs on a desktopPC as shown in FIG. 58 that provides on-site managers the ability tomonitor in real-time the number of employees currently helpingcustomers, the number of Seekers 999 requesting help, the number ofTO-Us 200 in use and by whom, and other historical data.

2. “Call Staff”—The Seeker's 999 ability to “Call Staff” or request helpusing the TO-U 200. The GO-UI 199 will also allow the Seeker 999 toscore the employee on measurements such as: promptness, helpful,knowledgeable, courteous, etc.

3. Staff Scheduling and Prompting or “SSP”—FIG. 51 The employee'sability to know which Seeker/shopper requested help (by an assigned ID,code, or name), where the Seeker's 999 is currently located FIG. 52 (bytracking software that shows the location with a store map), and incertain cases, what help was requested FIG. 51 and FIG. 53 (using thatparticular Seeker's 999 “data-click history” or “location” of thatSeeker 999 based on past Seekers 999) such as, Product Image 388, andShort Description 390.

4. Employee Queuing Reports or “EQR”—the TO-QM software will also allowmanagers to see feedback 454 left by Seekers 999 regarding the staffmeasurements mentioned under “Call Staff” above.

“TO-QM”—The Overall Queuing Module

TO-QM FIG. 58 keeps track of which employees are clocked-in and on-siteto help Seekers 999. In a retail environment for example, it wouldseparate those employees 466 that are assigned to help shoppers/Seekerson-the-floor from those employees who are not, such as employees thatare strictly working the POS 178, the people in shipping and receiving,stocking, etc., unless they are also assigned to help Seekers/shopperswith questions.

The main idea behind the TO-QM is to give managers an overall view 450of which staff members 470 are helping Seekers 999, what areas ofexpertise 476 are being most utilized and to recognize areas 462 ofstrength and weaknesses. Historical data can be retrieved to makeimprovements. Depending on the number of employees, much of the highlevel information can be viewed from a single screen 450 using a desktopPC.

The information is broken down first by a specific company, brand, orretailer, then geographically by territories or eventually by individuallocations or stores. At the store level, it is broken down bydepartment, and then by individual employees. On-site managers couldhave passwords that would allow them to login into information that hasbeen assigned permissions, such as his or her specific location orstore, and areas of control.

Information can also be tracked from managers online from a corporateheadquarters. These managers could view information metrics based on:

a nationwide basis,

regional,

store-by-store 458,

employee-by-employee 460, and/or

department by department 476,

Or by other conditions, such as:

the performance of a particular store or stores,

the performance of a particular product or product category,

the performance of a particular marketing campaign,

levels of staff expertise 462,

the amount of time Seeker spent in queue 383,

the amount of information requested by Seeker,

the amount of information requested by staff, etc.

The system tracks all available employees, their area of expertise 462,and those usage metrics the management selects from the list above.Employees are assigned a mobile TO-U 200. This employee's TO-U 200device will have a login for when said employee comes on duty and alogout function for when said employee goes off duty. This login makestheir name appear on TO-QM 450 screen as available to help Seekers 999,unless said employee logs-in on-duty, but unavailable.

For those employees who login as available to help Seekers 999, there isalready information attached to their login profile regarding his or herareas of expertise, such as subjects where they possess:

1. High-level “expertise” (i.e. at an electronics store: cell phone rateplans expert, and at a home improvement store: cabinet installationpricing expert),

2. Areas 462 where they have been “certified” (i.e. at a homeimprovement store: plumbing, electrical, etc. and at an electronicstore: digital camera, personal computers, etc.),

3. “General” knowledge, so as to fill in when more experienced employeesare not available,

4. “In-training” to signify that they are not available for difficultquestions, but they are currently in-training for that department, and

5. “None” signifies that they have no experience in this department andare not currently in-training to acquire this knowledge.

In a retail store for example, each employee could have a photo idattached to his or her login record in the database. This photo 418 FIG.57 could then come up on the shopping Seeker's mobile TO-U 200 GO-UI 199along with the staff member's first name; so that the Seeker 999 knowswhat the employee assigned looks like who is coming to help the Seeker.

The database tracks temporal information on several items. It trackswhen employees login as:

1. On-duty and available to help Seekers 999,

2. On-duty, but not available to help Seekers 999,

3. Off-duty, on break, and

4. Off-duty and signed out.

It also tracks the starting and ending time of each Seeker 999 saidemployee has helped. It tracks the amount of time Seekers 999 wait basedon what department they requested help in, what day and what time of daythe request was made. For example data might reflect thatSeekers/shoppers who request an employee with plumbing expertise on aSaturday tend to wait 20 minutes before receiving help, compared toTuesday's after 6 pm, where shoppers then to wait an average of 4minutes.

The system then tracks the amount of time spent helping each Seeker 999overall and the amount of time 474 each employee spends helping a Seeker999. Running totals are kept on how many Seekers 999 were helped 472 perdepartment 452, per employee 466, per area of expertise 476, per store458, and per period of time.

This data provides new and unique metrics for monitoring employeeefficiencies and areas for improvement. This usage data allows retailersto make store-by-store comparisons. For example, a retail regionalmanager may want to consider transferring an employee from a store thatis overstocked with a certain expertise to another local store thatlacks that expertise.

The retailer can assign color codes or symbols for specific areas ofknowledge and expertise to the TO-QM software. This helps managers at aglance to see which departments are understaffed and overstaffed, notbased purely on the quantity, but by the number of Seeker 999 requestsfor that area of expertise.

In FIG. 59 red dots (shown as black dots) are placed to the right of theemployees name to signify when they are currently helping Seekers 999.Yellow dots (shown as dashes) indicate that an employee is on-duty, butunavailable to help Seekers 999. This could be due to the employee beingtemporarily re-assigned to another task, such as checkout, stocking, orsecurity duty. Green dots (shown as white dots) indicate that theemployee is on-duty and available to help a Seeker 999. The less areasof expertise and certification an employee has, the fewer Seekers 999 heor she is likely to help.

Seeker's 999 Ability to “Call Staff”

When Seekers 999 request help, they can request help in general 410 FIG.55 or by a specific area of expertise 412, 414. A Seeker 999 requestshelp using their TO-U 200 (Transceiver Operating Unit). The GO-UI 199(or TO-U GUI) may vary depending on the retailer. For this example,refer to the following FIGS. 46, 54 where a Seeker 999 presses the“Press for Menu” button that initiates a Call Staff procedure 300 foundon the lower right of their TO-U 200 screen UI.

When a Seeker 999 selects “call staff help”, they are given an option toselect a help category 302 consisting of possible three options, such asone for requesting general staff assistance, a second for a staff withexpertise associated with the department they are presently in (assumingdevice tracking capabilities) in this example the cellular phone aisle,or associated with the last item selected, and a third for selecting astaff member with expertise in another department. For example, FIG. 55illustrates a screen a Seeker 999 could select General Staff Help 410without anyone in-line, Cellular Phone Help 412 with 2 people in-line,or see List of Other Areas of Staff Expertise 414. Seeing there could beother Seekers in-line, the Seeker 999 could Cancel 307 Call Staff 300.On the other hand, if Seeker 999 proceeds to get in a Queue, the systemwill Add Seeker 999 to List 306, storing Seekers information in memoryon the LCS 1136, then the system will display next number inline onSeeker's GO-UI 198 as well as display Employee's Information 312 theSeeker's 999 viewing. The above process will place Seeker 999 in theQueuing system, ending Seeker's Call Staff 314 request, and allowingSeeker 999 to continue shopping until Staff arrives 316.

FIG. 47 describes a possible process a Seeker 999 could go through whenStaff arrives at Seeker's location. Is staff here 318 alerts Seeker 999whether Employee 198 has arrived. At this point a choice could be madeon the part of a Seeker 999 if to Cancel 326 or stay in-line. Choosingto Cancel 326 allows Seeker 999 to give Feedback 324 regarding saidSeeker's 999 Staff Help session. Choosing to Cancel 326 help, wouldprobably indicate that help is taking too long, in which case a Seeker999 would not leave favorable feedback, if any at all. If Employee 198arrives, Seeker 999 will get a chance to view Employee's 198 image 322,also 418 FIG. 57, and experience help. Before the end of help session328 FIG. 47, Seeker 999 will get a chance to rate 324 his helper.Hopefully Seeker 999 was satisfied with assistance.

While Seeker 999 is waiting for Employee 198 to show up, said Employee198 has a chance to preview Seeker's information, such as Image of theProduct 388 FIG. 53, short description 390, as well as where Seeker 999is at this point in time FIG. 52. To seeker 344 path shows Employee 198how to reach Seeker 999, as well as where said Seeker 999 is located.

Locating a Seeker 352 FIG. 49 is part of a process an Employee 198 hasto go through when the Employee's TO-U 200 is notified with a Seeker'sidentification number requesting Help 346. A possible process couldconsist of an Employee 198 looking up next Seekers 999 TO-U 348identification. FIG. 48 describes a flow while assigning TO-U 200identifiers to Employees 198. Step 338 notifies the Employee 198 withSeeker's identification number, at which point the Employee 198 accepts340 requests for help. Acceptance by an Employee 198 will cause Seeker999 TO-U 200 to alert him, notifying the Seeker's TO-U 200 withEmployees information 342.

Once Employee 198 accepts request for help, the Employee 198 can lookupinformation 350 that a Seeker 999 is looking for. For example, suchinformation could be Seeker's last item before asking for help. FIG. 51illustrates a screen where an Employee 198 has a list of items he couldfind out about a Seeker 999 such as, Show Seeker path 380, Aislelocations 381, Last item looked at 382 before asking for help, and timein wait queue 383. Once Employee 198 Locates Seeker 352 FIG. 49, he willarrive 354 at Seeker's location and call out TO-U's identificationnumber 356 and help seeker 359 with said Seeker's 999 question(s).

Here is an example, where a Seeker 999 is standing in the cellular phonesection, the Seeker 999 could accept general help 410 FIG. 55 and takehis chances that they are assigned someone with expertise in cellularphones, or he could request an employee with cellular phone expertise.The third option “Other Expertise—See List,” 414 would allow the Seeker999 to select from a list of expertise levels and associated wait times.

For another example, a seeker standing in the paint section, may wish tojoin the queue to have a new door key cut or at an electronic store theymay wish to join the queue for color printer help while standing in theDVD movie section. Different conditions could be created that couldrestrain the number of queues a given Seeker 999 could join or entersimultaneously. For example an anonymous shopper will only be able tojoin one queue at a time, but certain shoppers such as loyal customersor special customers such as contractor, could be allowed to joinmultiple queues.

At any time, a shopper waiting in a queue can look up where theircurrent wait position is 416 FIG. 56, by pressing the “menu” 400 buttonin the lower left. This brings up the overlay menu with their currentposition. In FIG. 56 the Seeker 999 is currently 2.sup.nd 416 in line.

When they are first in line, their device prompts them with the image418 of the employee assigned to help them and the ID number 420 theyhave been assigned so that they may remain anonymous, in this example,number twenty-seven as showing in FIG. 57.

The employee's TO-U 200 tells the employee to go announce theidentification number twenty-seven to help this particular shopper. Withdevice tracking said shopper/seeker could request either that saidemployee come to their present location or that said employee will meetthem at a designated location. If there's no tracking available in thelocation, the UI may request that the shopper meet said employee at aparticular point within the store, such as at the front of aisletwenty-seven or in the sink section of the plumbing aisle.

When the employee arrives, the shopper will verify his arrival byindicating a response within GO-UI 199. Using the voting mechanism thatthe shopper can select from a list of emoticons as to how prompt theemployee was or was not. See FIG. 57. This action starts the clock onthis shopper's assistance time. The shopper will also be able to cancela request for staff help 430 and the shopper has the ability to bring upthe last item the shopper was looking at before the shopper requestedhelp, in case the shopper needed to be reminded.

Shopper will also be able to give feedback on the level of help andcourtesy the shopper received after the shopper has been helped.

FIG. 59 is an example of retrieving and monitoring information at theemployee level using the TO-QM. The name of the venue 550 selected wouldappear in the upper left corner and the rest of data for this screenwould correlate to this said venue. In this example the venue could be aretail chain.

This screen containing employee information might be retrieved andreviewed by a number of people, such as an in-store department manager,an in-store overall manager, district manager, and/or by someone at theheadquarters of the retail chain 550 named. This information could bereviewed and study during the course of the day, during an employee'sreview, and/or for creating reports. This data could be seen innear-real time or historical.

For example, the in-store overall manager could use field 552 to selectthe particular store that he represented, such as “Store number 12 inWestwood, Calif.”. Next the said manager could select a particulardepartment 554 and the name of a particular employee 556 who works inthat department. This would bring up an image of the particular employee558 and other related information, such as when the said employee washired, what products the said employee is certified in, an expert with,and those that said employee is currently in training with, as shown insection 560.

Section 561, shows the said employee's customer feedback scores over aselected time period 562, shown as the “current month” in this example.Below 562 is the said employee's combined scores or “Overall” 564 scorefor the time period 562 selected. The Overall 564 score combines thesaid employee's customer feedback scores for “Product Knowledge” 568,“Store Knowledge” 570, “Friendliness” 572 and “Promptness” 574.

These scores are typically collected from in-store Seekers who haveselected and used “Staff Help” and/or when a Seeker leaves feedbackregarding a specific employee. For example, when a Seeker uses the“Staff Help” function, said Seeker is notified that she is next forhelp. She can then vote as to how promptly the assigned employeeappeared to help her. This shows up under “Promptness” 574. After anassigned employee has helped said Seeker with the Seeker's question, theSeeker can also score the assigned employee on such subjects as productknowledge, store knowledge, and friendliness.

The Seeker is typically not obligated to leave “Customer Feedback”, butrather it is an option. In some cases, the Seeker may not leave anyfeedback, while some Seekers may only give feedback on certainquestions. Thus the numbers under the “Votes” 566 column are not all thesame amount. In the case of the number of “Promptness Votes” 575, thereare only thirty-three Seekers votes' verses the number of “ProductKnowledge Votes” 576 is ninety-seven votes. Field 577 shows two hundredfifty-two votes, this is the combined number of votes for the Overall564 votes collected over the time period 562 selected.

In FIG. 59, the right upper corner of the screen has a map 578 showingthe layout of the particular store 562 by said store's departments.Below map 578, a person logged into this module, such as the Westwoodstore 552 overall managers can select another time range to see a RINGon the map 578 that relates to the particular employee in field 556. Themanager would first select the time range using the “From” field 579 andthe “To” field 580. After selecting this time range, the manager couldselect what type of information regarding the particular employee infield 556 the manager would like to view using field 584, for suchselections as: Overall TO-U usage, “Product Information Requests”, TO-Uusage helping Seekers, and/or TO-U usage for training.

The results of time range and the selection in field 584 creates anoverlay on the map 578 depicted in the color shown in box 582 and asseen on the map in areas 594 and 596. In this particular example, themanager filtered the information further using fields 586 and 588. Infield 586 the manager places a condition of “More Than” and in field 588another condition of “50%” usage to further filter the conditions listedin the above field 584. The results would be redrawn on the map 578 ifthe results were different.

Next, the manager could compare this data with historical data, such asagainst other time periods for the particular employee named in field556, such as a week-to-week, month-to-month, or year-to-year comparison.Comparison could also be made against other employees with the samestore, other stores, or by such conditions as when compared to the topemployees with a district or department.

These said comparisons could be selected using field 592 that iscurrently set to “none”. The results would appear as an overlay usingthe color code found in box 590. Using these comparison capabilities,managers could learn valuable patterns created by top performingemployees that can then be shared with others within the department orretail chain.

For example, in FIG. 59, this particular employee named in field 556,works within the ‘software department’, yet the map 578 shows that thereare two RINGs. One RING 594, shows heavy TO-U usage within theemployee's assigned department, but RING 596 shows additional heavyusage outside the employee's department. The manager could ask thisparticular employee 556 who has a number one “Overall” 564 CustomerFeedback 561 rating, why he has such heavy TO-U usage outside hisdepartment 554?

The answer could be that said employee 556 has found that Seekers whobuy the more expensive computer within the computer department tend tobuy the most computer software. Armed with this knowledge said employee556 occasionally spends time in the computer department talking toSeekers regarding new software. Using his TO-U, he can requestinformation regarding particular products on behalf of Seekers.

This information could be for what versions of a particular softwarepackage are currently in-stock. The manager of said employee 556, couldthen share this information and corresponding map 578 overlay with othermanagers within the chain. These managers could call up the overlay andcompare with their own employees' within the same department.

The ability to compare conditional RINGs displayed or overlaid on a mapcan be applied to several subjects beyond employees. These RINGs couldbe stored and recalled as needed. For example, the database could bequeried to create an overlay map of Seeker Usage during a time span thata suspected theft took place. Over time a large sampling of similarpotential theft RINGs could be compared and analyzed that may revealpatterns that could be used to search historical data of similarpatterns in the past and who was known to be in the store.

The system could be setup to recognize patterns that can predict apotential theft that can in-turn alert an employee within the area ontheir TO-U or a manager on their TO-U and/or the TO-QM. These localizedalerts could also be created for predicting sales situations, such as aSeeker likely to need help, an accessory, a suggested item based onsimilar historical data. All of these predictive RINGs can be set toautomatically notify the Seeker or Staff mostly to benefit from thisinformation.

A variety of RINGs described earlier under “RINGs” could be comparedusing color codes. These color codes can create separate distinct areasof color or setup to allow colors to merge. Where for example blueoverlapping yellow creates green. This merged color capability can beuseful when comparing RINGs within similar locations.

For example, a buyer for kitchen faucets, could retrieve RINGs forSeeker requests for a particular faucet in two different stores. Onestore could be the number one performing store within the retailer'schain for that particular faucet verses another store. This comparisoninformation gives the said buyer a visual to see where display problemsmay be occurring. The data could also compare peak periods of demand bySeekers. For example, said buyer could compare the day and time of thehighest demand of Seekers of the number one performing store againstanother store to analyze the differences, if any.

FIG. 60 is a screen example from the “RTMI” 1040 or Real-Time MarketIntelligence reporting module. This module provides a view of bothreal-time and historical data of the system's usage. Access to thismodule can be conditionally restricted to parties that are grantedpermissions by the participating. LCAP 1076, the COPP 1070, and/or theparticipating RCS 1000.

For example, a retailer buyer within a retail chain's headquarters couldlogin and view market data for stores or territories using the top leftfield 1042. Next, the buyer could select a particular manufacturer 1044to selective view just said manufacturer's products or marketingcampaigns. For this example, the buyer selects the manufacturer “GeneralElectric”:

The buyer could review this manufacturer's overall information coveringa selected time-span or the buyer could further filter the data byselecting categories, starting with the top category 1046. For thisexample, the buyer could select “home appliances, kitchen appliances,and then refrigerators” until all categories were exhausted or as far asnecessary for the report sought.

If the buyer wanted to isolate a particular SKU, she could select saidSKU in field 1048. After selecting the SKU, said SKU's photo wouldappear in area 1050. Next, the buyer could select a time span or timeblock, such as a year, in field 1052. Then a sampling range can beselected in field 1054, such as “monthly”.

In field 1056, the buyer selects a condition to create a graph. In thisexample, “price range” to see the fluctuation in said SKU's actualretail price. This data can incorporate such things as discounts,rebates, mark down allowances, returns, etc. This data can be comparedto other historical data such as year-to-year, month-to-month or versesanother SKU. This data can also be gauged against the manufacturer'ssuggested retail price and/or the competition, if that data isavailable.

In field 1058, the buyer can select other fields that fall under thesame time spans as outlined in fields 1052 and 1054. In this example,the buyer selects “sales volume” to graph the sales volume a particularrefrigerator on a monthly basis during the year 2001.

In field 1060, the buyer can compare the data used in both the “pricerange” 1056 graph and the “sales volume” 1058 graph against historicaldata. In field 1062, the buyer can compare against another SKU.

More on Content Source Subsystem

As explained earlier, information or Content that gets modified,aggregated, or tagged is called “TAC” 184 or Tagged and AggregatedContent. Besides PBI 180, TAC 184 can include other meta-tags for suchthings as D-FACS 874 or Data-From Automated Computer Sensors, “DID” orDesignated Information for the Disabled, Foreign Language Translations(“FLT”) 186 and/or “MUN” 878 or Match-up Notifications.

A LCS 1136 could receive information and synchronize data with suchsources as airlines, baggage claim areas, rental cars, hotel bookingsystems, apartment rentals, sports, fantasy sports, stocks, weather,news, movie theaters, and ACS 188 (Automated Computer Sensors) on suchthings as mass transit vehicles, emergency exits, and/or fire detectorsin buildings.

D-FACS 874—Data-From Automated Computer Sensors

Information from ACS 188 is D-FACS 874 or Data-From Automated ComputerSensors.

In an emergency evacuation of a building for example, ACS 188 on eachfloor in a fire-escape/stairwell could be sending a signal back to theLCAP 1076 that could in turn relay important information to peopletrying to evacuate. This ACS 188 information could also be sent back tothe COPP 1070.

Using an instrument that measures heat levels, such as ceramic conesthat melt only at certain temperatures could be installed in thestairwell on every floor. When the cone melts it would signal the LCS1136 that that particular floor or area was no longer safe to passthrough. If a cone on the 7th floor of a thirty story building melted,the Seeker 999 listening to the emergency evacuation channel would knowthat critical information before getting to the danger on the 7th floorand then having to backtrack to an alternate route.

Emergency and fire crews could also receive this critical information sothat they would know where the fire was currently active. Theseemergency-crew members could communicate with the people inside thebuilding by leaving updated messages for all to hear, versus everyonetrying to talk over the same frequency at the same time.

“FLT” 186—Foreign Language Translations

For those locations that choose to offer foreign languages to theiron-site Seekers 999, the system would allow Seekers 999 to select theirlanguage of choice on the TO-U 200. This language would appear in theTO-U's 200 menu and would be the language of choice when the Seeker 999listens to audio messages or reads text.

Assuming English was the default language, the entire English versionmight be available in another language, such as Spanish, Japanese,French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Mandarin, Russian, Korean, Portuguese,Vietnamese, Hindi, Bengali, or Telugu. In some cases, only certainmessages might be available in foreign languages. If a Seeker 999requested that their messages be transmitted in Spanish for example, butnot all the messages were available in Spanish, this Seeker 999 would beable to select between: “only show me Spanish messages” (heard inSpanish), or “show messages in English, if not available in Spanish”.

Content such as television broadcasts or movies could have audioavailable in several languages besides English and Spanish at the COPPand some CAPs. This audio would be synchronized with the broadcast ortheater feature, so Seekers 999 could hear this Content in the languageof their choice. This capability could be used in the home through anInternet feed without using a mobile TO-U 200.

In a home where the native language is Chinese for example, this servicecould be installed through an Internet connection to a speaker near thetelevision. For those television shows that offer this service, thisfamily would be able to hear the audio in their native Chinese language.

This Content could also be made available using the mobile TO-Us 200 atsuch places as sports bars, hotels, college dorms, hospitals, tradeshows, theme parks, vacation spots, cruise ships, mass transit,airports, and at movie theaters or concert halls. In addition, thesystem would be able to tabulate the number of people listening in eachlanguage and where these groups are concentrated. Content could then befocused in these areas in their native language. All Seekers 999 wouldhave the ability to rate the service, the Content/programs, andparticipate in opinion polls.

Those hotels that best interact with the system would receive a symbolthat appears next to their listing on the mobile TO-U 200, signifyingtheir Content accuracy and reliability. This scoring system could beused for a wide variety of Content providers, such as airlines, carrenters, theaters, movie renters, restaurants, sporting venues, cruiseships, and theme park rides.

Foreign Language Synchronized with Content.

Redistribute broadcaster content in many of the most popular languages.For example, a television broadcaster, could sell hardware, software,and a service to Seekers in their homes where said Seekers could listento popular tv shows in said Seekers' native language. Today, this isoften done in Spanish, but the system could play many languages and theSeeker in the home could listen to the audio through their speakers orthrough a wireless headset. In addition, separate advertisement could becreate for the commercial breaks that either coincide with the tvcommercial or that are unique for that audience.

“MUN” 878—Match-Up Notifications

A LCAP 1076 could have the ability to receive profile requests from aSeeker's mobile TO-U 200 when they enter a LCAP. A Seeker 999 canpredefine their profile requests either by entering data into theirmobile TO-U 200 or by downloading information from another source suchas a hardwired computer.

A bride could visit a participating department store's website forexample, and create a wish list that they in turn e-mail to theirguests. Guests who have a mobile TO-U 200 can download this list and goto the department store where their mobile TO-U 200 will alert them.This alert could either be where the items are located or an alert whenthey are within a certain proximity of a tagged item.

The tagged items selected by the couple could have audio messages fromthe manufacturers explaining the product's benefits, but they could alsohave personalized comments from the bride and groom, or others. Thesemessages can be selectively sent to certain individuals.

Each handheld TO-U 200 is identified by its unique electronic serialnumber. In addition, the Seeker 999 can designate an ID that friends arelikely to remember such as the Seeker's 999 phone number. Then byentering a guest's phone number, the bride and groom could assignindividualized messages that could be retrieved by the guests as theyare shopping. In addition, the network would notify these shoppers ofwhich items have already been purchased. These guests could in turnleave messages for the bride and groom.

This selective message sending can also be used by advertisers for suchthings as discounts to frequent buyers or based on certain demographics.For example, a frequent purchaser of a particular item, may receive moreadvanced information then a Seeker 999 new to the system or location.

Dating Profile—Assigning Temporary Personal ID Numbers

For those Seekers 999 who chose to set up a dating profile, they canselect their own four-digit user ID. This ID can be changed as neededand is used in place of a person's personal information which helpsprotect the individual's privacy.

Some TO-Us 200 can also accept voice commands, voice messages, and voicecommunications.

Group Messaging

At a trade show for example, a sales representative working at anexhibit booth could leave the following voicemail message: “This isHolly, it is 4:00 pm. I'm headed to my hotel room for the next hour. Iwill be back at the booth at 5:00 pm.”

She enters this message by talking into her TO-U 200. After recordingthe message she can review it, re-record it, or send it. Her sendingoptions could be to one person or many. In this example, she could besending the message to a predefined group of co-workers who are at thetrade show.

There are several benefits to this system. For one, she does not have tore-send the same message to multiple cell phones or units. Two, thismessage can be left without interrupting others. Three, her message canbe quickly retrieved by just those who need to know it. Traditionally,one might notify a single person in charge of the booth staffing, butthis person in charge is not always readily available.

In some cases, Holly may go and come back without anybody even noticingher temporary absence. If a booth visitor came looking for Holly andasked a fellow employee if she was around, this employee would be ableto check for a voicemail from Holly on their own TO-U 200. Eachvoicemail would be sorted by the employee's name and stamped with thetime that is was left. This would prevent another co-worker from havingto listen to each and every voice message in the list. In this case,there would be a recent message time-stamped “4:00 pm from Holly”. Thisco-worker could then replay the message where Holly explains that shewill be back by 5:00 pm and said co-worker can then notify the boothvisitor of this information.

Some employers/exhibitors might choose to make this capability mandatoryamongst their staff. This information could be retrieved later for themanager or the employer to determine who has taken a break and thenumber of hours each individual has worked.

Group Messaging and Voice Mail

When someone leaves a Seeker a voice mail, this Seeker can scrollthrough a list of voice mail messages similar to someone scrollingthrough a list of data choices on a computer screen. Each entry couldlist who the original calling party was and/or their phone number, sorather then having to redial their phone number, one can simply hit“reply”, similar to how email works. These voice mail messages can bestored and retrieved under different categories, such as by a user'sname, the department of employment, and/or by the time of day or datethe message was left.

Keypad Usage for Text Searches

TO-Us 200 with numeric keypads could be used by Seekers 999 to initiatea search. Using the letters associated with the numbers on the keypad,similar to a telephone keypad, the Seeker 999 can spell out a companyand narrow in on that subject. At a trade show for example, a Seeker 999might be trying to find Sony's™ trade show booth. Rather than search bytext categories, or subjects, the Seeker 999 could press “locate” on thekeypad, then select “booth”, then press “7, 6, 6, 9”, which spells outSONY with the numeric keypad. The search result would post all companiesthat start with either a (PQRS), have a second character of either(MNO), a third character of either (MNO) and a fourth character ofeither (WXYZ). If there were more than one company fitting thiscriteria, the Seeker 999 could choice between the remaining selectionsor keep entering keys. This would in turn provide the booth locationinformation.

Roaming

Most audio or information is pre-recorded and retrieved on demand. Foraudio that is live, the mobile TO-Us 200 will allow the Seeker 999 toroam about the environment without losing their signal. The signaltransfers from one TAP 1084 to another transparently, as the Seeker 999moves through a building or campus or is on a larger ______ frequency.

Purchasing Options

The system would allow Seekers 999 the option to store their credit cardinformation within the LCS 1136. This would allow the Seeker 999 theability to purchase items described within their GO-UI 199, withouthaving to wirelessly transmit their credit card information. They wouldinstead enter a password that would be matched up with an electronicserial number for their TO-U 200 within the local database to completethe purchase. If the electronic serial number does not match thepassword, the database will not allow for the transaction. Severalattempts may entirely disable the TO-U 200.

In addition, items within a retail LCAP could be labeled or scanned forsimilar purchasing capabilities. The Seeker's TO-U 200 could also belinked to a bank account and reflect their current available balance.

Polling Questions

Many websites offer visitors the ability to answer poll questions. Theresults are usually made available once they have participated. When onthe system network, Seekers 999 could participate in a wide range ofpolls, from international questions, national issues, to local topics.For example, a traveler/seeker waiting at a CAP within an airport couldsee how their opinions stack up against other people in the world, theUS, the city the traveler was in, that airport, or just others withinthat terminal.

One polling question could be, “Do you support increased funding forpublic schools?” While another question could be “On a scale of one to10, how would you rank this airport in terms of your overallsatisfaction?”

Other polls could be geared towards such things as job searches ordating. At a singles bar for example, a Seeker 999 could answer a listof questions, such as:

Do you smoke?

Do you have children?

Would you rather watch or play sports?

Are you a morning person, or do you like the nightlife?

Rush Limbaugh: love him, or hate him?

The Seeker's 999 poll results could then be matched up against othersingles in the bar that have voted. These results would tell the Seeker999 how many singles matched their answers and other interestinginformation. A four-digit number, opposed to any personal informationcould identify the other potential singles. The person participatingcould then start exchanging messages with individuals or leave audiohints on who they are, or what they look like. These poll results and/ormessages could appear on a large screen for others to see.

Incentive Voting

In some locations the TO-U 200 would track the number of votes or pollsthe Seeker 999 has participated in. This information can be utilized fordiscounts or rewards. At a trade show for example, attendees couldregister their feedback regarding a speaker at a seminar, new productswithin exhibits, or their overall experience. The system would have thecapability of recognizing those questions that have already beenanswered by a particular TO-U 200. This would reduce the likelihood ofrepeat voting on a single subject by the same TO-U 200 and increase thepoll's integrity.

A married couple seeking to rent videos for example, could input theirfeedback on movies they have already seen. These opinions could becross-referenced in the database to suggest other movies. This datacould also be sent real-time to the rental store's headquarters todetermine genre inventory needs per location.

The Seeker 999 would have the option to remain anonymous or they mayrequest to have their personal preferences saved in the local serverwithin the store/franchise. This information can be tied to the TO-U's200 electronic serial number, not the individual. Consequently, thehusband could take the mobile TO-U 200 with his wife's movie interestsalong with him, without her needing to go along. With this data alreadystored, the TO-U 200 can suggest movie titles that she might like. Onthe other hand, the husband could login to his specified frequencies.

From an enabled site, someone could send a message to someone else atanother enabled site. While grocery shopping for example, someone fromtheir home could send a message via the telephone, email, or their TO-U200 to another family member who has gone to the grocery store withtheir own mobile TO-U 200. This message could be a personal message orit could be a change, correction, or an addition to the shopping listthat was already created and stored on the mobile TO-U 200 that is nowon its way to the store.

If the video rental store has real time video and DVD inventoryavailable online, the Seeker 999 could make selections and store theirpreferences to their mobile TO-U 200. This would allow the Seeker 999 tosend a third party to the video rental store with their TO-U 200 andpreferences. This same premise could be used for a grocery store whereone individual could create a grocery list and in turn send anothershopper to the store with the mobile TO-U 200. If the grocery store'sonline site listed products with specific brands and sizes, the persondoing the shopping with the mobile TO-U 200 would be able to make surethat items were an exact match. This would reduce the possibility ofpurchasing the wrong items, sizes, or forgetting items.

At a record store for example, instead of being tethered to a listeningstation, shoppers with a mobile TO-U 200 would be free to move about thestore listening to new music. These shoppers could register theiropinions about the music. Similar to the video store example, thedatabase could make music suggestions. In addition, a recording artistcould notify her fans when she'll be in town on her next concert tour orsuggest that the listener visit her website. Updates to her messagecould be made in text and using text-to-speech, only that portion of hermessage would be changed. For example, when a city got added to the tourthe text would get converted to speech and automatically added to themessage.

At a bookstore for example, a shopper/Seeker could retrieve an audiomessage from their favorite author explaining the impetus behind hislatest novel. This message could contain unique insights about thecharacters or alternate endings. Other messages recorded in the author'svoice could list upcoming novels, his favorite books, or when he isgoing to be at that particular store for a book signing.

Saving Capabilities

Seekers 999 can save a wide variety of subjects or materials, from audiomessages, text messages, to-do lists, addresses, personal profiles, andfavorites. This information can be saved locally to their mobile TO-U200, or archived on network servers. The ability to store additionalinformation on network servers allows Seekers 999 to store valuableinformation without consuming memory on their mobile TO-U 200.

In addition to storage in the TO-U 200, Seeker's 999 can select wherethey want information stored. This stored information can be on a serverat a particular location, the LCAP 1076, and/or the COPP 1070 (as longas there is a network connection), on removable storage mediums, or sentwirelessly to another storage device. This stored information could beabout products a seeker has seen, services of interest, profiles,favorites, to-do lists, addresses, voicemail messages sent by others, ormessages saved by said Seeker 999.

Store Your Own Messages

A shopping mall with a LCAP 1076 could offer their shoppers the optionto store their parking location on their mobile TO-U 200. This locationcan be retrieved when needed and can be explained with an audio message,with a text description, and with a map diagram. The Seeker 999 couldadd his own audio message to the save file.

Accountability

LCAPs 1076 will have several ways to communicate with on-site Seekers,both employees and customers. This two-way communication not onlyprovides the ability to communicate to the consumer, but it allows theconsumer to register their feedback. This feedback can be on a widevariety of subjects, concerns, and opinions.

For TO-U's with keypads or applicable GO-UI's during any text operation,message playback, or subject level within an application, the Seeker 999can note whether that function was helpful or not by pressing “yes” or“no” or some other designate key on their keypad. This channel wouldexplain where the nearest restroom is located. For example, if theSeeker 999 found the information helpful they could press the keylabeled “yes”, if the information was poorly explained, they could press“no”. This Seeker 999 is not obligated to give any feedback, but thosethat do participate, will further improve the quality of service forothers. The database will store these responses and will alert theinformation manager of those messages receiving negative feedback, sothat the information can be addressed or improved.

Another example of Seeker 999 interaction could be at a retail store,where the shopper in this case could register their feedback on anygiven employee. In this example, the employee might have a four-digitidentification, or a nametag that one can simply retrieve from a list ontheir mobile TO-U 200. At that level, the shopper is prompted to leave ascore between 0 and 10 as to how helpful that particular employee was(with zero meaning not helpful, 10 for very helpful).

Changeable Button Functions

Some TO-Us 200 could have the ability to change the labeled functions onall the individual keys. While voting for example, the keypad labelswould reflect the number choices, whereas in the audio playback mode thekeys would display a Seeker's 999 playing options. This is not a touchscreen graphical user interface (GUI), but physical buttons with imagesthat are fed to the key face relevant to the current application.

Changing Key Colors

For those TO-Us 200 that have physical keys that can change their labelswith the associated application as noted above, these buttons can alsolight up in different colors. These colors could denote such things asnew voicemails, changes in a stock price, or a profile match. Thesecolors could be personalized to an individual's own preferences. Forexample, certain keys could illuminate in green if the Seeker's 999stock is going up, or in red if it is going down.

In addition, these keys that light up could indicate a direction neededto travel for a particular trade show booth or product in a store.Lights flickering from left to right across the keypad might indicatethat the Seeker 999 needs to head east.

Color-Coded Units

TO-Us 200 could be color coded to disseminate a variety of Seekers 999or purposes. At a trade show for example, an orange POD 170 could denotethat it is a rental unit, whereas a metallic finish could denote apurchased unit. A green unit could represent someone in the press core,while a blue unit could represent an exhibitor's POD 170. Thiscolor-coding would make it easier to police the return of the rentalsand to set up different capabilities for each POD 170. For example, anexhibitor's POD 170 may be prohibited from participating in certainopinion polls.

Notifications

The system can be set to notify the Seeker 999 for a number of reasons.The Seeker 999 could be notified if they have a profile match, avoicemail message, or they could opt-in for certain information thatwould be sent to him, such as sports scores, or product specials. Thisfeature could be modified or turned off as needed.

A wholesale-shopping store could notify their on-site customers/seekersabout such things as when the seekers pictures were ready at the photolab and/or the seeker's auto repairs were completed. The system couldexplain club benefits while seekers were shopping. Seeker 999s couldlearn how to purchase a new car or what are the current gasoline prices.

Live Microphones

Some venues could offer their Seekers/customers unique audioexperiences, such as live audio from a sporting event. There could be amicrophone mounted on a basketball backboard, a hockey net or penaltybox, an umpire's mask, a racehorse's bridal, a football player's helmet,or a player's jersey or uniform.

Text-to-Speech

Some audio could come from text to speech software translations. Thisallows businesses and venues that are using the system to create textfeeds that are in turn, converted to audio messages without having tocreate a live voice-over from the written script. In some cases the textupdates might only be for a portion of a message, such as thetemperature in an updated weather report or a changing stock price.

Playback Options

ACAP can offer the same audio or text message in varying degrees ofdetail. This allows the Seeker 999 to receive detailed or abbreviatedinstructions depending on their individual needs. In addition, some ofthe mobile TO-Us 200 would allow for variable speed playback and pitchleveling. Some locations could offer different dialects or varying tonesto different age levels. This capability could be established in theset-up menu on the mobile TO-U 200 and changed by the Seeker 999 asneeded. If the location did not have dialect or tone options the mobileTO-U 200 could revert to the default audio settings.

Help Menus and Usage Lessons.

LCAPS can provide both text and audio help at almost every level of theGO-UI. The Seeker 999 can request an audio explanation as what theiroptions are at any point within the menu or they can read a textexplanation for help.

Fantasy Sports

The system will be able to offer near real-time sports statistics over awireless mobile TO-U 200. This information could show a list of fantasyplayers and the overall point totals. It could keep track of scoringchanges, compare the Seeker's 999 score against competitors and showleague standings.

Remote Content

Restaurants would be able to enter data with a passcode from the hostessstation in a restaurant or the front desk of a hotel. From a landline,businesses could enter a passcode, then precede through a list ofpredefined questions for their location and the ability to add audiomessages. These messages could time-stamp, if desired.

Voice Over IP or Internet Protocols

The system could provide two-way data or voice communications, usingsuch methods as cellular, voice over Internet Protocols, SMS, or MMS.

Individualized Alerts

Seekers can store audio and text messages that can be sent as alerts atpredetermined times to remind the Seeker of such things as appointments,to-do items, or names of people and their backgrounds.

Location Tracking Thru Mesh Networking

Peer-to-peer voice communications, voice messaging, and email.

Peer-to-peer gaming thru mesh networking. These peer-to-peer games couldincorporate voice commands, voice controls, and/or voice interactionwith other players.

Peer-to-peer discovery of potential game players thru mesh networking

With peer-to-peer mesh networks, Seekers could locate others potentialSeekers with which the can compete or communicate with that arecurrently within range or logged onto the network remotely.

Peer-to-peer discovery of Seekers in an emergency situation thru meshnetworking a possible application in an emergency situation could be theidentification of all active nodes in the mesh network at the current orcertain locations. An emergency crew would then be able to identify andfind Seekers with a mobile TO-U in the event of an emergency by trackingthe location of each TO-U as a node within the mesh network.

Universal Wireless Remote

A wireless remote could control the functions of a standard PDA orPersonal Digital Assistant device. This remote would allow the Seeker togrow accustom to standard controls for any given PDA, such as a Palm,HPC, Sony, Casio, Toshiba, etc. or cell phone, without having to learnthe nuances of that particular device. Furthermore, the Seeker couldoperate the PDA-like device without having to hold the relatively largeunit in said Seeker's hand. Said Seeker could instead leave the PDA-likedevice or cell phone attached to said Seeker's hip and work the controlsfrom the much smaller remote. This remote could control such things asthe audio channel selected, the volume, the rewind, play, fast-forward,and it could display the current audio channel and time counter.

Device Retrieval

At the end of an event where numerous devices have been rented out toSeekers and said Seekers are now in need of returning said devices, asystem GO-UI could allow for a one-button self-check-in, billing, systemdiagnostics and ID display. For example, a Seeker could walk up to anarea designated for rental device returns. This are could have a signtelling said Seeker to hit the check-in button and wait for the numberdisplayed on their device to be called for check-in.

The device would go through self-diagnostics, billing, and transmit thisinformation to a designated access point for self-check outs. The accesspoint and database server receiving this information, would in turncross check the device's self-diagnostic test to see if there were anyproblems found, the amount of usage, any purchases made, the amountowed, any discounts for voting or other promotions, and charge theSeeker's credit card. Then this server and transmitter would send averification number to the handheld device.

Even though the Seeker can perform this check out on their own,employees could assist said Seekers returning said devices. Employeescould call out numbers generated on printed receipts that could then beexchanged for the handheld device displaying the correlating number.This allows Seekers other then the original renter/Seeker to return thedevice and for a much faster check-out. In addition to employees, therecould be audio help menus for Seekers to tune to—if said Seekers had anyquestions or got stuck.

Biometrics Identification

The TO-U could employ a number of biometric identification methods. Forexample, a sensor such as one that could be made out of silicon could beembedded on the surface of the TO-U so that Seekers could swipe theirfinger over it for fingerprint recognition. This fingerprint recognitioncould then be used to identify said Seeker and in turn allow said Seekerto access personalized information that could be retrieved from a LCAP.This information could in turn, allow said Seeker to do many things thatsaid Seeker could not have other wise done, such as make financialtransactions.

The ability to retrieve one's personal information by simply swipingones finger over the biometric sensor reduces the amount of keystrokesone would need to identify themselves. A pass code could be added forfurther security and safety. In addition, this functionality would allowSeekers to be able to use any given mobile opposed to a specific orpre-assigned TO-U where their personalized data is stored within theTO-U.

At a college campus for example, one student could borrow anotherstudent's mobile TO-U and by using a biometric identification such asfingerprint recognition, the Seeker could access their personaldatabase. Their personal database could include their phone numbers,emails, addresses, personal profiles, and pre-arranged credit accountfor financial transactions. This avoids the problem one has when he doesnot have his personal cell phone or when the battery goes dead, and hecannot use someone else's phone because he does not know the number. Italso allows another Seeker to borrow someone else's mobile TO-U withoutthe lender being charged for the usage.

The mobile TO-U could be setup a number of ways, from requiring abiometric id for each transaction to maintaining the same id until a newid is established. A Seeker could customize their profile from an onlinecomputer to track their usage online and to report any suspect usage.This tracking would distinguish between usage on their own TO-U andusage on other TO-Us.

This Seeker could establish rules for logging on to other TO-Us, such asnever, during certain times of the day, on certain TO-Us, and/or forcertain periods of time. This individual Seeker can establish whenlogging on to a TO-U other than their “main” personal mobile unit, theTO-U should require a biometric id for each transaction or the TO-Uwould log said Seeker off after a certain period of time. This wouldhelp prevent others from being able to use someone else's personalinformation or bill transactions to someone else's account.

As an employee, the ability to use biometrics for identification allowsthe employee to retrieve personal information such as payrollinformation and personalized training information even if said employeeforgot or lost their originally assigned mobile TO-U. The system wouldtrack the employee usage and note that the employee had logged on with anew TO-U. The system would also track the electronic serial number ofthe new TO-U. This information would create a record of when theoriginally assigned TO-U was first missing or replaced. This employeecould be restricted from certain usage or said employee could still beable to use their existing system capabilities setup on the system, suchas voice over IP, email, and group messaging.

This biometric identification capability could also provide a Seeker amethod of entering locked doorways, vehicles, and entryways. Forexample, a mobile TO-Us could be used in place of smart cards or keys toenter hotel rooms, secured areas, or pass through tollbooths. Thisidentification could improve traffic flow through areas with securitychecks or paid attendance such as airports, sporting venues, themeparks, and trade shows. For the Seeker with the mobile TO-U the Seekerwould be able to identify themselves when requested by security andallow them much faster travel through secure areas.

This biometric identification would allow Seekers to make more securepeer-to-peer financial transactions between mobile TO-Us. Seekers couldalso perform wagering functions where it was legal. Wagering could bebetween the Seeker and an online gaming service, the Seeker and a casinowhere the Seeker is physically located, and/or between two Seekers.

In locations that rent or loan out mobile TO-Us to Seekers or employees,this biometric identification would reduce the need to re-enter onespersonal preferences. At a retail store for example, a Seeker could savea list of products that said Seeker was interested in, or in other wordsa “wish list”. On their next visit the Seeker would be able to recallthis information from the LCAP by simply swiping their finger over thesensor on any of the available mobile TO-Us.

Even items that have been purchased before could come up on the screen.At a grocery store for example, instead of creating a shopping list withthe same items each time, the TO-U could recall what a Seeker purchasedand when said Seeker purchased the items. At a trade show, the TO-Ucould recall which booths a Seeker visited and where these booths havemoved to for this year's event. The TO-U could list return policies andwarranty information; arrange for rebates or extended warranty plans.

This biometric finger sensor can also be used to navigate the screensimilar to the touch pad on the notebook computer. In addition, certainfinger swipe directions could be programmed to perform functions such asincreasing the volume, activating different programs, or scrollingdifferent menus.

Mobile Returns

In locations that loan or rent mobile TO-Us, the software could have apre-programmed logout function that not only determines the finalcharges to the Seeker's account, but it could also run a self-diagnosticprogram on the TO-U to check for existing or potential hardware andsoftware damage. This capability could be as simple as a one-buttonlogout function. It could be supplemented by a password or a biometricidentification; such as voice recognition or a fingerprint.

Express Checkout

Seekers could use the biometric functions on the mobile TO-U for expresscheck out at a retail store or for locations with m-commerce. This wouldexpedite checkout lanes. Some locations could allow Seeker's to checkinventory, request home delivery, or to have certain items collectedfrom shelves and prepared for immediate purchase. At a furniture storefor example, one could go through the show room and select differentfurniture of interest. The TO-U could explain the color and sizeoptions, whether the items were in stock, and how much it would cost fordelivery. The Seeker could request the items be collected for them topurchase and take home at that time.

Personalized Appliance Interface and Controls

The mobile TO-U can access personalized information from a database tocontrol TO-Us. For example, a Seeker could go online and setup anaccount. This account could include such things as what cable televisioncompany the Seeker traditionally uses, or it could simply pull up theinformation from an existing database based on the Seeker's home zipcode. The mobile TO-U could also be used as a television remote controlat home or on the road. On the road, the Seeker could identify the typeof television and model number that the Seeker would like to use themobile TO-U with.

At a participating hotel chains for example, the Seeker could simplyidentify themselves by using biometrics, a pass code, and/or a uniqueelectronic serial number attached to the TO-U. This identificationprocess can be entered by the Seeker or done automatically andcompletely transparent to the Seeker once said Seeker enter thelocation. After the identification is recognized by the onsite database,the Seeker can begin to use their mobile TO-U as a television remote intheir room without having to enter any TV model number. This is morethen just enabling the TO-U to interface with a television, it ismaintaining the channel line-up that the Seeker is already accustomed athome.

If the Seeker were accustomed to finding CBS on channel 2 and CNBC onchannel 55 in his hometown, by using this capability in this newlocation, this same Seeker would instead maintain these channellocations. Even though CBS may be on channel 11 and CNBC may be onchannel 32 in this new community. For those channels that do not existin the new location the remote could read “not available”, and at theend of the list there could be those channels that are “unique to thislocation”.

Hotel Door/Vending/Other

The mobile TO-U could also be programmed to open a Seeker's hotel door,or give you access to the building after hours. Seeker's TO-U could alsobe used to make purchases from vending machines, gain access to certainprivileged areas such as weight rooms, saunas, etc.

Electric Outlet

Today there are many ways to make a transaction between man and machine,from the coin operated parking meter, to the smart cards which in turnoperate washing machine, to the PDA with wireless interfaces to operatethe soda vending machine. Some copying centers use key counters thatcustomers plug in to copier machines that count the number of copiesmade. Many of these applications could be adapted so that thetransaction of fees for services could take place on a mobile TO-U.

These legacy machines could be modified to accept wireless payments orthe machines could be plugged into a TO-U that accepts wirelesspayments. This latter method would allow older TO-Us to facilitatewireless payment transaction without the high cost of hardware updates.Instead a universal AC outlet connector could be the interface betweenthe legacy machine and the electrical current. To utilize the legacymachine one would need to make a wireless payment that would allow theTO-U access to electricity necessary to complete the given request orfunction.

If the Seeker did not make a wireless payment with their mobile TO-U,the legacy machine would not have access to sufficient power, and theSeeker could be notified via a number of methods. At a Laundromat forexample, if one failed to enter their wireless payment prior to pressingthe start button on the machine, this request for electricity to run themachine would go through the customized AC outlet connector. The lack ofpayment status in the AC outlet connector would cause the unit to eitherplay some sort of sound alert for payment, or it could actually play anaudio message requesting payment. Failure to pay could prevent the ACconnector from providing sufficient power to complete the requestedtask. If on the other hand, the Seeker completed the paymenttransaction, the AC connector would then allow the machine sufficientpower to complete the requested task.

This customized AC outlet connector could be attached to the outlet insuch a way that the Seeker could not remove the plug without renderingthe machine completely useless. In addition any tampering with theoutlet connector, could notify security or be stored on the network as afile for review later. For example, all those Seekers who had used theirmobile TO-U to purchase washing machine time would be noted in thedatabase when the time that somebody tried to tamper with the AC outleton the dryer.

At an outdoor tennis court for example, Seekers could use their mobileTO-U to purchase lighting for their evening tennis game without havingrecreational staff onsite: This has the added benefit of knowing who wasthere opposed to a coin operated service.

Different payment systems could be used for machines that don't requireelectricity such as parking meters, subway turnstiles, mass transittoken/coin collector, and newspaper vending machines. These TO-Us couldeither be modified with battery-powered mechanisms that recognizewireless payments, said Seeker could have secondary wireless paymentTO-Us, or said Seeker could be completely replaced by TO-Us that acceptwireless payments.

With a parking meter for example, one could simply arrive at a parkinglocation and instead of putting coins in the parking meter or using somesort of smartcard to make payment for the parking location, the TO-Uwith its location tracking capabilities could know that you arecurrently at a parking location. The display on the mobile TO-U couldask if you would like to pay for a certain amount of parking time. TheSeeker could press an answer such as the “Yes” key and then be promptedas to whether said Seeker would like a certain amount of time or to keepthe meter filled, as much as the local community law allows.

This parking payment and tracking system could also be utilized by theparking enforcement agents. If someone made payment with their mobileTO-U versus putting coins in the meter, the meter might still readexpired, but the parking enforcement agent would have access to the samewireless network and database to verify payment. The benefit of using aTO-U with accurate tracking, avoids the necessity for the parkingenforcement agent to have to enter the street location of where thevehicle is currently parked.

If the Seeker paid for the parking, the parking enforcement agent wouldbe notified before writing the citation. In addition, the end user has acomplete receipt record as to when, where, and for how long said Seekerhad paid for parking. This receipt record is available to the end userand the city online and can be used more accurately for accountingpurposes.

Car Rental

When renting a car, a Seeker with a mobile TO-U could gain access toeither the car or the keys without any human intervention. By usingbiometric identification, this Seeker with a pre-arranged online carrental could simply go from the airport terminal directly to their carvia audio or text instructions that are available to them personallyonsite. These instructions would be personalized and could be stored forlater retrieval by the Seeker.

With location tracking capabilities, this car rental transaction can beaccurately time-stamped, and the transaction itself can be madeavailable online for the Seeker. When the user drives off the lot, saidSeeker can request a photographic image recorded of the vehicle for anydamage status.

Car Diagnostics

Today many car manufacturers are developing automobiles with in-dashcomputers that communicate with mechanical sensors and can prompt thevehicle owner for needed repairs or scheduled maintenance. Built-incomputers in cars could be replaced by a mobile TO-U, similar to howbuilt-in cellular phones were replaced by mobile cellular phones. Thiswould accomplish several things, for one the owner could maintain thedata on several vehicles; two, the Seeker could transfer the data fareasier to a desktop computer via a port, such as a USB; and third, thein dash computer is far more difficult to update with software andmaintain when permanently installed in a vehicle. In addition vehicleowners that might not currently have an in-dash computer system, or thatmay not be able to afford one could use mobile TO-Us.

DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENT FOR THE SYSTEM

Information Available

Information can be sorted for the Seeker's 999 retrieval in a number ofmanners, primarily by audio channels and text subject headings. Thisinformation can be accessed virtually anywhere there is an Internetconnection, telephone line, or a computer server hosting the service.Seekers 999 can retrieve this information using a wireless handsetdevice, a desktop computer, a notebook or laptop computer, or from otherdevices, such as cellular phones and PDAs. These devices can either behard-wired to at least one of the computer servers, connected throughthe Internet 1080, or connected through a wireless means. Theproprietary wireless “POD” 170 will be the receiving unit most oftenreferred to below.

FIG. 62 is a flow chart describes said another embodiment in whichservice could be implemented for a new LCAP 1076. Using a conventioncenter as the new LCAP 1076 for this example, an Order for Service 1202would be generated and sent to the COPP 1070. The COPP 1070 produces newContent such as Audio Clips, Meta-Data, and Hierarchical Databases 1204as described in steps 1152, 1154, 1156, 1086, and 1186 of FIG. 61; forsuch items as booths, products, registration information, conferencesessions, demo and session times.

This example assumes that a site map has been created that establishes alocation and TAP 1084 identification has been created. This is generallydone by establishing a cellular pattern across the environment toprovide complete coverage over the environment and create zones ofinformation as is shown in FIG. 2, as Local Wireless Access 1078, LCAP1076.

Based on these unique TAP 1084 locations and each TAP's 1084corresponding location identification, the PCMS 1086 then BuffersContent into the Database with a TAP 1084 Location ID. Consequently,location sensitive information can be distributed even without athird-party Proximity Estimation capabilities.

For example, when a Seeker 999 requests information with a POD, therequest typically travels through the nearest TAP 1084 location. InLCAPs 1076 that and require a large number of TAPs 1084 to cover theenvironment, such as forty TAPs 1084 to cover a large convention center,location sensitive information such as where is the nearest food courtarea could be provided to the Seeker 999 relative to the TAP 1084.

For example in a venue with forty TAPs 1084 a Seeker 999 located inrange of a specific TAP 1084, such as TAP thirty-nine shown as area 1078a, in FIG. 2, could request location sensitive information based onitems and services located within range of the third-ninth TAP, asopposed to a Seeker 999 in range of different TAP 1084, shown as area1078 b in FIG. 2. Therefore each tap can have a database built for it.

So without the use of a third-party Proximity Estimator that wouldnormally give the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the Seeker's 999 locationwithin the environment, the system would at least know that the Seeker999 was most likely near the TAP that the Seeker's 999 request camethrough. Then based on that said TAP's 1084 location the database coulddeliver the location of the food court closest to said TAP 1084. Thislocation information could be an audio messages that said, “the nearestfood court is located at the south end of Hall C by booth number 16038”verses “the nearest food court is located to the south of you (theSeeker 999)”.

To store this Content at the LCAP 1076 a “Local Server Is Installed Inthe Venue” 1208. Next the “TAPs 1084 Are Installed In the Venue andLocation Boundaries Established” 1210. The “COPP's PCMS via the InternetAnd/Or the Local PCMS Manages the Database in Local Server” 1212. TheCOPP's PCMS can handle all the Content updates, but more likely Contentupdates would also be done on-site via the LCAP's 1076 PCMS 1086.

A “Seeker can then Rent or Purchase a TO-U or Download Software To Runon Their own Device/PDA” 1124 or other compatible device. A “Seeker withtheir TO-U Approaches a TAP” 1216 or generally enters the range of saidTAP. The “TAP and TO-U Negotiate a Connection” 1218. This connection canbe set for several conditions depending on the Seeker's 999 preferencesor conditions established by the LCAP 1076. For example, the connectionbetween the Seeker's 999 TO-U 200 and a LCAP 1076 TAP might only happenwhen a Seeker 999 actually makes a request for information. This canreduce the Seeker-load on the network, but it could also require largerdownloads per Seeker 999 request.

In another method of “negotiating a connection”, the LCAP 1076, theCOPP, and/or the Seeker 999 could establish a ping interval for theSeeker's 999 TO-U 200 to ping the network. This interval could be oneping every second, so that the TO-U 200 pings the nearest TAP with theID of the TO-U 200. If the TO-U 200 needs an update message based on theSeeker's 999 usage patterns or current location, the network couldautomatically update the Seeker's 999 TO-U 200 with new Content and/orthe new menuing hierarchy.

In addition, the most requested Content by other Seekers 999 coulddetermine what audio clips or portions of audio clips are sent to theTO-U 200. This happens in step 1220 “Local Server Downloads Clip Menus,Meta-Data, Clip Beginnings, and Hierarchical Database Data InformationOnto Wireless Network” that are wirelessly transmitted to the Seeker's999 TO-U 200 in step 1222, which “Caches the Textual Information andstep 1224” TO-U Caches High Usage Clips From Network.”

In step 1226, a “Seeker Requests A Clip Or Data Information Using theTO-U”. “If the Request Is Not Cached, the Request Passes To the TAP” instep 1228. In step 1230, the “Requested Information is Provided”.

The Seeker's 999 TO-U 200 pings received at the nearest TAP 1084 cangenerate a density map of Seekers 999 per TAP 1084 within the LCAP 1076.The ping interval could change dynamically based on network loads. Thenumber and types of Seeker 999 requests for information can becollected. The “PCMS Provides Billing, Feedback Data, & Profile Data”1232 based on the Seekers' 999 usage. Some PCMS 1086 examples appear inFIGS. 21 and 22.

Wireless Headset/Earpiece

The audio received by the wireless mobile TO-U 200 can either be fed toan earpiece or a headset through a cable that is plugged into an audioout jack on the side of the TO-U 200. Some mobile TO-Us 200 will allowthe Seeker 999 to also be able to place their mobile TO-U 200 up totheir ear and hear audio messages, similar to a telephone handset. Someadvanced POD 170 units could have built-in transmitters for sending awireless signal to an earpiece, thus eliminating the need for a wireoutput.

Audio Messages

The system allows the Seeker 999 to request audio clips on-demand. Theseaudio clips can be pre-recorded messages from such sources as voice-overprofessionals, business owners, vendors, advertising agencies, clients,tour guides, politicians, cooks, doctors, lawyers, accountants,engineers, analysts, brokers, consultants, professionals, critics,comedians, entertainers, columnists, parents, students, teachers, repairspecialists, interpreters, employees, and/or inventors. Audio clips canalso be from such sources as pre-recorded media, terrestrial radio,satellite radio, Internet radio, television, web-casts, movies,books-on-tape, music, speeches, concerts, sporting events, interviews,children's stories, how to guides, biographies, weather reports, policescanners, control towers, and/or wire feeds.

An Alternative GO-UI Embodiment

The Audio Channel Subject Directory

The TO-U's 200 GO-UI 199 could be set up with audio channels. Each audiochannel subject could be addressed with a letter and a number. Letters Ato Z, and numbers zero to 9, or A0 to Z9 for 260 audio channel subjects.Subject headings can be predetermined and maintained between differentvenues to reduce Seeker 999 confusion as to where to find certaininformation. For example: (this has been modified as separate file)

A0: On-site Help

B0: The nearest Bathroom

C0: The nearest Cash Machine

A, B, C, (1-9): On-Site Channels

D0-D9: Disability Assistance

E0-E9: Emergency Assistance

Emergency Exits

Medical

CPR

Fire

Police

Security

Lost Children/Amber Alert

Lost and Found Items

F0-F9: Foreign Language Assistance

G0-G9: Games and Trivia

H0-H9: Store Hours and Upcoming Events

I0-I9: How To Use the Device

J0-J9: Job Listings

K0-K9: Kids Education and Entertainment

L0-L9: Locater Help

M, N, O, P, R, & S (0-9): On-Site Channels

Q0-Q9: Frequently Asked Questions

T0-T9: Transportation Information

U0-U9: Local Community Information

V0-V9: How and What to Vote On

W0-W9: News, Talk, Health, Politics, and Finance

X0: Sports Channel Guide

X1-X9: Sports Channels

Y0: Music and Entertainment Guide

Y1: Entertainment News

Y2: Comedy

Y3-Y9: Music

Z0: WXYZ Channel Overview/Guide

Z1-Z9: Music

Multiple Messages Listed Under a Single Channel Address

Any one of these channel-headings listed above could have either asingle audio message associated with it or it could have virtually anunlimited number of channel choices listed under its subject heading. Iffor example, channels E0 (E-zero) through E9 were channel headingsdesignated for emergency assistance, the first channel—E0 would be thehelp menu that would list what is available on the other nine channels(E1 through E9). If channel “E5” was designated for medical emergencies,there could be several message choices listed under the “E5” heading,such as: 1) Treating cuts, (2) CPR if someone stops breathing, or (3)Treating someone who is choking.” This method of having 260 audiosubject headings, but unlimited choices under each, reduces the need tosearch through thousands of channels to find relevant material.

Live Audio

Live audio Content could come from news events, speeches, promotions,and from microphones on vehicles, equipment, and/or key individuals.This audio could be from on-site presentations or from events outsidethe immediate environment, such as sporting events.

Today there are venues that utilize unlicensed AM transmitters to emitradio frequencies to mobile TO-Us 200 over short distances. Seekers 999of this system need to tune into the appropriate AM signal to receivethe audio. The transmitters will have the ability to transmit audio toany given channel through a number of different frequency possibilities.This would allow the system to utilize the most efficient transmissionmode for whatever the Content called for and without wasting thebandwidth needed in other spectrums.

For example, there could be a certain point within the day, wherechannel “X3” could be broadcasting a live sporting event over an AMsignal. Later that day from the same location and transceiver, this same“X3” channel could be transmitting its radio frequency using the 2.4 GHzspectrum. Using the AM frequency in the first half of this example freesup bandwidth for other Seekers 999 to download messages on the 2.4 GHzspectrum and changing it to 2.4 GHz later that day, frees up the AMbandwidth used by that channel. This AM bandwidth could then be used inconjunction with a live event now on another channel. This changeover infrequency usage is totally transparent to the Seeker 999, who simplychooses the audio information they want from the appropriate channelmenu. The AM channel used in one city and sent over channel X3 could becompletely different than the AM channel used for X3 in another city.This change in AM frequency usage would be completely transparent to theSeeker 999. The Seeker 999 would simply dial into channel X3.

A “Go” Function

A “go” function would create a shortcut that allows the Seeker 999 topress one button to jump to an audio channel versus using the sidetuners to dial it in. For example, if one were in the airport listeningto a channel designated for ground transportation, the starting messageon M0 could explain the overall choices:

“M1—Shuttle Buses,

M2—Taxis,

M3—Hotel Shuttles,

M4—Rental cars, and

M5—City Transit Buses.”

Instead of the Seeker 999 having to dial in M4 with the side tuner, thisSeeker 999 could simply press the “go” button at the point in the M0message when the message refers to rental cars at channel M4. If themessage moves beyond the information at M4 and goes into the informationdescribing M5, said Seeker could jump to M4 by either playing themessage again and pressing “go” at the appropriate time—or the Seekercould “rewind” the audio to M4's information and then press “go”. Thiswould bring up M4 in the display and would start playing the messagewithout having to press the “play” button. The audio messages that wouldallow for this “go” shortcut function would contain assigned meta-tags.

The Text Database

Besides audio, a Seeker 999 can also search text databases. These textmessages, Content, or information, may also have audio messages attachedto them. Information in the text database is accessible through ahierarchy with subjects that can change for LCAP 1076 or need. LCAPS cansetup their menus as said LCAP 1076 chooses, or said LCAP can simply usethe pre-existing system defaults. An example of default subject headingsmight be the following:

1. Proximity/Where,

2. Time,

3. Cost,

4. Popularity/Top 5,

5. Specialties/Special

6. Categories/Subject, and/or

7. Alphabetical A-Z.

Information can be sorted by more than one of these headings listedabove. For example, a traveler who is within range of the servicecapabilities could use the mobile TO-U 200 to access the network whenlooking for a hotel room late at night. Their search request could startwith “proximity”. The “proximity” choices could range from those withina few miles to those within the city limits, in this case the Seeker 999might choose a 10-mile radius.

Once this search is complete, the results can be further filtered by“time”. The time choices could be any given day in the future orcurrently available hotel rooms. The net results could then be filteredagain by “cost” or in this example, by all hotels with rooms between $80and $100 a night. Finally, these results could be prioritized based ontheir “popularity” among previous users of the system.

The ability to further filter a search result can be done in any order.For example, someone looking for restaurants that still deliver pizzasat 11:20 pm could start by searching under “categories”. The category inthis case could be “restaurants” followed by those that deliver pizzaunder “specialties”. The net results could be then searched by “time”,or those that still deliver at 11:20 pm. Finally, these results could beprioritized on “proximity”, or those that are closest to the Seeker's999 current location.

At any given time or level within the text database, the Seeker 999 canchoose to listen to audio messages associated with the search results.In the previous example there could be three restaurants that deliverpizza after 11:20 pm that are all within a 5-mile range. If there was anattached audio promotion to any one of these three restaurants, theSeeker 999 could then choose to listen to that message. It is notnecessary to listen to the audio message to get the relevant informationfor the restaurant, such as the phone number and address, but it couldhelp explain specials, discounts, or what makes their food unique.

Some LCAPs can provide unique sorting capabilities or subjects. At atrade show for example, an attendee/Seeker might not know the name of aparticular exhibitor. In this case, the venue could offer the Seeker 999the ability to find the exhibitor using such information as the name ofan employee, a product, or headquarter location. This capability wouldallow the Seeker 999 to find the product, then the manufacturer's nameand the exhibitor's booth number.

In addition, the Seeker 999 could request to see all exhibitors who havedistributors available in a certain city, or just display the exhibitorswho produce Macintosh™ products that are within a certain range of theSeeker 999, such as two hundred feet.

Off-Site Contributors

Content sent to a Seeker's TO-U 200 from an on-site server does not haveto originate from the LCAP 1076. This Content can be sent from the RCAP1006, RCS 1000, or another LCAP 1076 through the COPP 1070. A Seeker 999can sort available Content by On-site, Local, National, International,or Other Enabled Sites. On-site Content generally means information thatcomes from the immediate environment or LCAP 1076. Local Content, inthis example, generally means information from the local community.National Content generally means information relevant to the localcountry. International Content generally means information found outsidethe local country.

Other Enabled Sites generally means Content that is considered “on-site”information at another LCAP 1076. Some site might allow Seeker's 999from other LCAPS to download this information. A college student in LosAngeles, Calif., home from college for example, could download Contentfrom her college in Hartford, Conn., if they allowed access to theirContent outside the campus. This Content could be for such things asgrades, upcoming activities, class schedules, or special events.

Information and entertainment databases containing both readable textand audio clips can be navigated using a software application that onecan access either with a personal computer 1122, FIG. 3, connected tothe Internet 1080 or on a mobile POD 170, FIG. 63-67, as shown in FIG.3. With the handheld unit, the information is received via a wirelessradio frequency 1144, FIG. 3. In this form, one can hear the audiothrough an earpiece 1140 or a speaker 1126 attached to the unit at aconnector 1340, as shown in FIG. 3, and the text can be read from both atop display 1500, FIG. 65 and a front display 1600, FIG. 68.

Description of Alternative Embodiment for the POD 170

Wireless Hip Usage

The POD 170 unit may be worn in a hip holster 1522 as shown in FIG. 63.When the unit is in the hip holster, one can easily navigate theavailable audio clips in the database by using a top display. This topdisplay 1500, is much smaller in size than said front display 1600, FIG.64, but sufficient for audio clip scrolling (explained later).

The device can be setup for either right-handed or left-handedindividuals using the setup function (explained later). In theright-handed mode, the hip holster is assumed to be on the right hip asshown in FIG. 63. The front display 1600 and the keypad 1300 as shown inFIGS. 64, 65, and 67, are then hidden inward. This protects the frontkeypad buttons 1300 from getting accidentally bumped or pressed.

Wireless Handheld Usage

When the unit is in one's hand it is designed so that both audio andtext databases are easy to navigate in the front display 1600 as shownin FIG. 64. The audio controls found on the side of the unit, allow oneto navigate the audio database as shown in FIG. 65 and the text controlsfound on the opposite side of the unit, allow one to navigate the textdatabases, as shown in FIGS. 66 and 67. The buttons on the front face1300, as shown in FIGS. 65 and 69 provide navigation shortcuts tospecific steps and additional functionality.

Description of Alternative Embodiment for the GO-UI 199

The Following Sections Describe Embodiment of the GO-UI that would beused with the Said Alternative POD Embodiment 170.

Start-Up Mode

FIGS. 68A, 68B, and, show a unit's “start-up” mode or the default mode.A Key 1316, FIG. 69, performs power up and places the top and frontdisplays in the mode that was last in use before the unit was turnedoff. If the device has had its defaults “reset” or is brand new the unitcomes up in the “start-up” mode. In the “start-up” mode, an audio clipaddress “10” (the letter “I” as in India and the number “0” as in zero)appear in a display element 1502, FIG. 68A and at the beginning of adisplay element 1636, FIG. 68B.

The audio clip address is a combination of a single letter (A-Z) 1504with a single number (0-9) 1506. An audio clip has a clip name “How ToScroll Audio” that appears in 1508. If the clip name takes more than oneline to display, its name can carry over to a second line that is shownas a display element 1510. If the remaining space in 1510 allows, therecan also be a clip description and/or an abbreviated user instruction.

In the “start-up” mode, display element 1510 reads “Press “8” or“play””. A display element 1604 and 1606 in FIG. 68B allow for two linesof text to create longer Seeker 999 instructions than can appear in1510, FIG. 68A. In this “start-up” state, the unit has an audio clipbuffered to explain to a new Seeker 999 how the device works when theSeeker presses either a play button 1308, found on the front keypad area1300, FIG. 69, or a play button 1322, found on the side of the unit,FIG. 65.

Play/Pause Modes

This Side Control 1322 in FIG. 65 performs a “play/pause” function andwill play the buffered audio clip that has its address shown in FIG. 70Adisplay element 1508, and reflected by a display element 1636 in FIG.70B Key 1308, in the front keypad as shown in FIG. 69 and labeled “8play/pause” operates identically to the side panel “play/pause” key1322, if the unit is not in a numeric entry mode. Numeric key mode andthe different properties of a “display element” will be described later.

For experienced Seekers 999, a display element 1628 in FIG. 70A, thatconsists of an oval with a black outline and the text “play” inside ofthe outline, indicates that the unit is not in play, but that audio isavailable to be played. New Seekers 999 can learn this information bylistening to the help messages that start at audio clip “I0” and gothrough “I9”. In FIG. 70B, 1628 is a now a black oval with “play”inside. This indicates the unit is playing an audio clip.

A display element 1630 will display the word “audio” if there is anaudio clip available for the Seeker 999 to hear. When audio is actuallyplaying, this display element 1630 changes from the word “audio” to anaudio symbol and the address of the playing clip, as shown in FIG. 70B.Audio clips can be clips found scrolling an audio database, MP3 audio,or an audio clip attached to a text file (these modes are explainedlater).

Volume Levels

In most cases, the audio clip that is currently playing or was lastplayed has its address shown on the top display element 1502, FIG. 70A.If a clip is currently playing, a display element 1512 shows thedisplayed volume level by varying the number and size of bars shownwithin the box as in FIG. 70B. If the unit is not in the play mode, onlythe box outline is shown with no volume bars inside of it, as in FIG.70A, 1512.

A Side Control 1336, FIG. 65, performs a “volume up” control and a sidecontrol 1338 performs a “volume down” control. The recorded volume ofthe audio data is carefully set for the average Seeker 999, but thiscontrol allows the volume of all clips to be adjusted. The number ofvolume bars shown in FIG. 70A, display element 1512 reflect the currentvolume setting. Every clip's volume is adjusted to match preset audiolevels.

Play/Pause/Rewind/Fast-Forward

When the unit is only playing audio as in FIG. 70B, and not scrollingother databases (explained later) side control 1322 in FIG. 65, pausesaudio as in FIG. 70C. Holding in a Side Control 1332, as shown in FIG.65, performs an “audio-clip rewind” with the adjusted time displayed in1514, FIG. 70D, 1608. A Seeker 999 hears a lowered volume of asynthesized sound that notifies him that the audio clip is activelybeing rewound. Similarly, holding in a Side control 1334, as shown inFIG. 65, performs an “audio-clip fast-forward” as shown in FIG. 70E,that can continue up to the end of a selected audio clip. One hears alowered audio volume and the clip playing at two times the speed.Holding in on the play/pause side control 1322 for more than 5 seconds,causes the audio clip to stop and go back to time “00:00” as in FIG.70F. Press the “play” control 1322 again will start to play the audioclip from the beginning.

Audio Time Displays

A time counter 1514 shows the running time of the audio clip that iscurrently playing as in FIG. 70B or shows “00:00” if no audio clip isplaying as is shown in FIG. 70A. A display element 1608, FIG. 70A on thefront display switches between showing the time of day, as in FIG. 71A,when no audio clip is queued or playing, and switches to showing thesame time counter that appears in 1514 FIG. 70B, when an audio clip isqueued or playing, see also FIG. 70B, 1608.

A display element 1516, FIG. 70A, shows the total length of thecurrently selected audio clip. A display element 1610, FIG. 70A on thefront display switches between showing the current calendar date as inFIG. 71A, when no audio clip is queued or playing, and showing the sametotal audio clip time that appears in 1516 when an audio clip is queuedor playing, see FIG. 70B, 1610.

Audio Scrolling

When the unit is in the audio-scrolling mode, front display element1630, FIG. 70G, reads “audio” and a display element 1602, shows an arrowthat points to the Seeker 999 to which the side of the unit the audiocontrols are located. In the right-handed mode (setup explained later),it points to the left.

A Trackwheel 1324, FIG. 65 is a compound control with three functions.The three functions are shown in FIG. 66, as a Side Control 1326“Trackwheel Up”, a Side Control 1328 “Trackwheel Pushed” and a SideControl 1330 “Trackwheel Down”. A trackwheel is a rocker switch with apush-in mode that is used in the wireless handheld unit FIG. 65. Toobtain the same functionality using a software application whileconnected to the Internet, the software interface requires threeseparate control buttons.

Audio scrolling is performed with the trackwheel 1324, FIG. 65. Anyaudio scrolling causes the implementation of the audio-scrolling mode.If the unit was previously in the text-scrolling mode FIG. 71D(explained later), the text-mode information is buffered within theunit's memory and any previously buffered audio-scrolling data is thenrestored in the unit's displays. This minimizes the need for additionalscreen space and allows the Seeker 999 to revert back to the place wheresaid Seeker had previously left off while they were in the oppositescrolling mode.

Scrolling area 1676 of FIG. 70G shows the scrolling status. The audioclip shown in display element 1636, represents the currently selectableaudio clip, as is indicated by a display element 1642, with the whitetext in a black box. This audio clip's address, name, and abbreviatedinstructions are also displayed in the top display 1500, as 1508 and1510 of FIG. 70F. Any “Home Row” or “Lower-Level” text shown as displayelements 1612, 1614, 1616, 1618, 1620, 1622, 1624, or 1626, as shown inFIG. 75I, that had previously appeared during any text-scrolling(explained later) now disappears, since the unit is in the audioscrolling mode.

There can be different screen modes (explained later under setup) thataffect the number of lines that appear in a scrolling area 1676, FIGS.77E and 77F. By default the display area 1670, the “help screen” is on,as is shown in FIG. 70G and there are five lines available at the bottomof the front display for scrolling audio clips, display elements 1632,1634, 1636, 1638, and 1640.

When audio scrolling, the side control 1326, FIG. 66, “Trackwheel Up”,causes a display element 1632, FIG. 70H, to get replaced by the valuepreviously appearing below it as a display element 1634, a displayelement 1634 is replaced by the value previously appearing as displayelement 1636, a display element 1636 is replaced by the value previouslyappearing as display element 1638, and a new value is retrieved from thedatabase list for a display element 1640.

Similarly, FIG. 66, a Side Control 1330 “Trackwheel Down”, causes thedisplay element 1640 to be replaced with the value previously appearingabove it as display element 1638, display element 1638 is replaced withthe value previously appearing as display element 1636, display element1636 is replaced with the value previously appearing as display element1634, display element 1634 is replaced with the value previouslyappearing as display element 1632, and a new value is retrieved fordisplay element 1632. This new value that is displayed, depends onwhether the Seeker 999 is scrolling through the letters (A to Z) orthrough the numbers (0 to 9).

FIG. 66, a Side Control 1328, the “Trackwheel Pushed” function, togglesbetween the ability to scroll numbers or scroll letters. The active halfof display, FIG. 70H is a display element 1506, as designated with whitenumber on a black background and the non-active half of the address iswhite letter as is shown with display element 1504. The reverse is shownin FIG. 70J.

Scrolling Audio Address Numbers

Scrolling the number portion of an audio address is shown in FIG. 70H.The clips (all starting with the letter “I” as in India) I9, I0, I1, I2,and I3 are shown in the scroll area 1676 of FIG. 70H. Pushing sidecontrol 1326, Trackwheel Up, causes the clip address to move up oneposition, as shown in Scroll Area 1676, FIG. 10 i, clip I9, becomes clipI0, followed by I1, I2, I3, and I4. This assumes a clip 14 is availablein the database. If only two clips are available in the “I” series thendisplay element 1640 is blank, and if there is only one clip, it wouldappear by itself as display element 1636.

Scrolling Audio Address Letters

Scrolling the letter portion of an audio address (not to be confusedwith text scrolling) is shown in FIGS. 70J, 70K, and 70L. The audio clipaddresses G2 1632, H2 1634, I2 1636, J2 1638, and K2 1640 are shown inthe scroll area 1676, FIG. 70J. If Trackwheel Up is pushed in, the clipsF2 1632, G2 1634, H2 1636, I2 1638, and J2 1640 would be shown as inFIG. 70K. If audio clip F2 does not exist in the database, then the “E2”audio clip would be displayed at display element 1632, as shown in FIG.70L.

FIGS. 63 Through 82

Text Databases

Besides audio clips, one can also navigate several text databases andsetup capabilities. First, one must decide which location or operationone wants to search from the choices found at top level or “home” row ofthe front display. FIG. 71A shows this home row that consists of“ON-SITE” 1612, “LOCAL” 1614, “NATIONAL” 1616, “OTHER” 1618, and “SETUP”1620. Each of these five choices provides the Seeker 999 selectionsshown in display area 1674 in FIGS. 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. Similar toaudio scrolling, area 1674 of FIG. 71A, shows the currently availablechoices for the next level of the text database. The rectangular displayelement 1634 reflects the current selection as shown in display element1630.

Side control 1352, FIGS. 66 and 67, performs a “home” function thatreturns the Seeker 999 to the top level of the five database choices.The scroll area 1674, FIG. 71A, contains the second level choicesavailable to the Seeker 999. Trackwheel 1354, FIG. 67 is a compound key,similar to Trackwheel 1324, except this Trackwheel is used fornavigation of text databases. Performing a “Trackwheel Push”. selectsthe next level in the hierarchy of the database as shown in FIG. 71B,display element 1612, followed by the next entry that appears as displayelement 1614 through display element 1620. Five levels are visible atone time. When one moves past the fifth level, the information shown indisplay element 1612 rotates off the screen to the left.

A side control 1356, FIG. 66 moves up through the text database and sidecontrol 1360 moves down through the text database. A side control 1358allows the Seeker 999 to advance one level down in the database. AnInternet software version could use three separate button controls.

A side control 1362 performs a “back” function and a side control 1364performs a “forward” function as shown in FIGS. 66 and 67. The backfunction moves one level backwards through the previously performedactions. The forward function allows one to return forward through thehistory stack.

FIG. 71.

One Embodiment of Text Scrolling

FIG. 71A shows the top level subject heading options when a Seeker isscrolling text, shown as “On-site” 1612, “Local” 1614, “NAT'L” 1616(National), “Other” 1618 and “Setup” 1620. Notice that Audio 1630 has aline through it, indicating to the Seeker that no audio is presentlyqueued or being played. When a Seeker rotates the text trackwheel 1354,typically the available selections appear in area 1676 as in FIG. 71B,with the selection 1636 in reverse video. This indicates that the Seekercan press in 1358 with the trackwheel to advance to the selection in1636, but the top level of text scrolling in this embodiment is a uniquecase where spinning the text trackwheel 1354 changes the selectionacross the top line of area 1674.

For example, rotating the trackwheel up would move “Local” 1614 in FIG.71A to the current location of “On-site” 1614 and “On-site” 1614 wouldmove over to where “Setup” 1620 is currently located”. The selectionthat is in the queue for the Seeker to select is always in displayposition 1612. Display area 1676, in this FIG. 71A, changes as theSeeker moves through the top selections in display area 1674.

This information in display area 1674 will be the next selection saidSeeker will need to make should said Seeker select “On-site” in thisexample. This ability to see the next selection in display area 1674,allows said Seeker to get an additional understanding what types ofinformation can be found under a given heading without actually havingto make the selection. In this example, said Seeker selects “On-site”1612 to select information regarding the LCAP where said Seeker iscurrently located.

On-Site Options

Element 1676 of FIG. 71B depicts choices available after selecting“On-Site” 1612. Using the text trackwheel 1354, the Seeker selects“Locate Things On-Site” 1636 pushing in on the trackwheel taking him tothe GO-UI on FIG. 71 c. From this screen he can select from a range ofoptions to locate on-site. The GO-UI builds an abbreviated history ofthe Seeker's selection or navigation path as shown as “On-Site” 1612 and“Locate” 1614 in FIG. 71C.

For this example, said Seeker selects “Specific Exhibitor Booths” 1636,this advances the GO-UI to the screen shown in FIG. 71D. From here saidSeeker decides how he would like to categorize the exhibitorsparticipating in the trade show. He could then select between the fiveoptions shown in FIG. 71D, to locate by “Company Name” 1632, ProductCategories” 1634, “Products Manufactured” 1636, “Size of Booth” 1638which would rank the exhibitors by the size of the booth, by the “Numberof Years At Show” 1640; or said Seeker could rotate the trackwheel 1354to see other locating options before these five on the screen in area1676.

If these were the only five options available the option in 1632 wouldmove up and replace option 1640, while 1640 moved up to 1638 and so on.The option that appears in 1636 is the one option that the Seeker cancurrently select.

In this example, the Seeker is trying to locate a product called a“Blackberry”, but does not know who manufacturer's it. So the Seekeruses the “Products Manufactured” 1636 selection in FIG. 71D and area1674 in FIG. 71E updates accordingly with “Products” 1618.

FIG. 71E displays an alphabet so the Seeker can select the first letterof a product, or in this example, said Seeker selects B 1636 for“Blackberry”. The next screen that appears on the GO-UI appears in FIG.71F, and the Seeker history adds another historical element “B” 1620 tosection 1674.

From FIG. 71F, said Seeker scrolls until “BlackBerry Handhelds” appearsin the selection area 1636 and the Seeker presses in 1358 with thetrackwheel 1354. The GO-UI then appears as the image in FIG. 71G, sincethere is more than one exhibitor show “BlackBerry Handhelds”. Note thatSeeker history adds another historical element “Visit” 1622 that getsadded to line two to section 1674.

From FIG. 71G, said Seeker selects “Research In-Motion” as the exhibitorthat the Seeker would like to locate and the GO-UI then appears as shownin FIG. 71H. From FIG. 71H the Seeker not only learns the booth locationlisted in line 1634 as “Central Hall/Booth: C17328”, but the Seeker alsodiscovers that he can select further options from this exhibitor, suchas “Demo Times” 1636, “Company Contacts” 1638, “Products Manufactured”1640, for a list of other products manufactured by “Research In-Motion”listed on the top line 1632.

These additional options could conform to a number of conditions, suchas the selector 1636 could display the most popular choice made by otherSeekers when using this screen within the hierarchy, the list of choicescould be displayed in the order the exhibitor requests, and/or theselection list could change over time. For example, “Demo Times” 1636,could fall down the list if no more demos were schedule for that currentday.

In FIG. 71H, note that the historical path in 1674 has been truncated to“On-site” 1612, “Locate” 1614, “Booth” 1616, and “C17328”. This canoccur during a number of conditions, such as when the history path movesinto two lines the next request looks for the shortest path said Seekercould have obtained the same information. If the Seeker used the backbutton 1332, the Seeker would go back to the historical screen seen insection 1674 of FIG. 71G.

In this example, the Seeker selects “Demo Times” 1636 FIG. 71H. Fromthis selection, not shown in the figures, the Seeker could select from arange of available demo time still available. If the Seeker's selectioncreated a conflict with his existing schedule of events stored on theTO-U, the GO-UI could give the Seeker a range of options to change oneof the two conflicts appointments. For example, if there was anotherBlackBerry Demo available at another time that did not conflict with theSeeker's schedule, the GO-UI could display the time options to theSeeker.

FIG. 72B, V, 72C, 72D depicts an example where a Seeker chooses the“Local” field 1612 information verses “On-Site” field 1620. In thisexample, after said Seeker selects the Local field 1612 in FIG. 72A, theGO-UI shows what appears in FIG. 72B, where the Seeker can select from arange of selection that are local subjects in display 1676.

In this example, the Seeker wishes to lookup the “Local Weather” 1636,in FIG. 72B. This advances the GO-UI to the selections shown in FIG.72C, where the Seeker could select “Current Conditions” 1636, in FIG.72C. Notice that abbreviate history again appears in section 1674 inFIG. 72D. When Seeker gets to the screen in FIG. 72D, the Seeker hasexhausted the list of choices. Consequently there is no reverse video asis normally the case for screen field 1636 as in FIG. 72C, but insteadthe screen is filled with information. This information could go beyondthe five fields in 1676, FIG. 72D and the Seeker would rotate thetrackwheel to see any additional fields of information.

FIG. 73A depicts a Seeker looking up information on a National basis. Inthis example, the Seeker is trying to find the score for a ProfessionalFootball game between Oakland and San Francisco. FIG. 73A illustratesNational choices as in the “Nat'l” field 1620.

FIG. 73B shows a selection being made for National Sports (College,Pros) 1636. FIG. 73C shows Pros-National 1636 is selected and nextFootball 1636 FIG. 73D. FIG. 73E displays Scores as one of the optionsbetween Team Schedules 1632, Weekly Schedules 1634, Standings 1638, andFantasy Football Stats 1640. FIG. 73F Section 1676 shows Seeker variousscores on professional football games. At this level, the Seeker couldchoose to make this selection a favorite or a “FAV” (explained later),to avoid the number of menus required to navigate in the future.

FIG. 74A demonstrations additional options a Seeker may find under the“Other” category field 1612. Selecting one of the choices in Section1676 Seeker chooses 1636 of FIG. 74B for “Other TelAbout/Enabled Sites”1636. This selection shows the Seeker a range of selections as depictedin FIG. 74C. By selecting “Local TelAbout/Enabled Sites/TAPs” 1636 inFIG. 74C, the Seeker advances to the GO-UI screen depicted in FIG. 74D.

This selection list in display area 1676 of FIG. 74D is a list of othersites enabled with the service in the local area. From this list aSeeker can pull information and menus as though the Seeker was actuallylocated within that particular LCAP. This would localized importantinformation, so a Seeker could review and up-to-the-minute mass transitschedule, hotel vacancy, and/or make a restaurant reservation based onnear-real-time conditions and based on permissions granted to specificSeekers.

FIG. 75 allows a Seeker to “Setup” or personalize his TO-U. FIG. 75Ashows what a screen would look like if Setup 1612 was selected. TheSeeker chooses “Your Profiles” 1636 of FIG. 75B, taking him to FIG. 75C,where section 1674 builds Seekers path and displays choices 1676. TheSeeker selects “Create A Profile” 1636 which takes him to a screen inFIG. 75D, offering to “Enter My Resume” 1676.

The Seeker then proceeds to build a resume. Screen in FIG. 75E allowsthe Seeker to “Enter My Education” 1676 from a preset range of degreetypes, as shown in FIG. 75F. The Seeker selects the appropriate degreefield 1676. While going continuing the selection process, section 1674continues to create an abbreviated history, letting the Seeker knowwhere he is in the navigation path.

FIG. 75G display various degrees 1636, FIG. 75H offers Seeker an optionto enter what state, and school 1636 is located in. FIG. 75J displays1992 1636 as a selection, FIG. 75K and FIG. 75L asks the Seeker if anyof the entries are correct or incorrect. In FIG. 75M seeker selects toEnter My Computer Skills 1636 and FIG. 75N would allow Seeker to SaveInformation To A Profile 1636. FIG. 75O allows the Seeker to select anemail address 1636. FIG. 75Q allows Seeker to Continue Creating Resume1636 and FIG. 75R asks the Seeker to Enter My Contact Info 1636.

FIG. 76A shows another selection the Seeker could make while Setting upa Profile. The Seeker selects Your Profiles 1636 in FIG. 76A and FIG.76B, which takes him to FIG. 76C Your Favorites 1636. FIG. 76D offersSeeker to Review Saved Favorites 1636. Navigating to Weather: CurrentLocal 1636 FIG. 76E, Seeker can select this option and view variousoptions 1676 specifically Show Weather: Current Local 1636 of FIG. 76F.

FIG. 77 allows Seeker to Customize Front Display 1636 FIG. 77B. FIG. 77Coffers choices for different modes. Seeker selects Medium: Status & NoHelp 1636, This selection changes section 1678 FIG. 77D and asks Seekerto Make Display Permanent 1636. Screen 77E is another choice, whereSeeker could be Expert: No Status & No Help 1636, also offering to MakeDisplay Permanent 1636 in FIG. 77F.

An Alternative Embodiment of Text Scrolling

FIG. 78 is an alternative embodiment for GO-UI's information display onTO-U. In this embodiment Seeker is able to search for information basedtop level subjects as shown in FIG. 78A, of “Where” 1612, “Subject”1614, “A-Z” 1616, “Special” 1618, “Setup” 1620, “Time” 1622, “Cost”1624, “Popular” 1626, and “Audio” 1630. Audio 1630 would be the same.FIG. 78B shows that “On-Site” 1614 would now be a sub-level of acategory called “Where” verses the top level of the hierarchy.

A key 1307, FIG. 69 functions the same as side control 1362 and a key1309 functions the same as side control 1364 unless the device is in thenumeric-entry mode, that is described later. The unit can also work asan MP3 player. As an MP3, key 1307 jumps back one song/track in the playlist and key 1309 jumps ahead one song/track in the play list.

Connector 1366, FIG. 67, is a compact flash, expansion slot andconnector 1368 is an output jack. “2 locate” a short cut key FIG. 69 key1301 labeled “1-home” works just like key 1352 unless the numeric entrymode is enabled or if it has had all of its defaults reset under the“reset” function found in “setup”.

While one is listening to an audio clip, they can simultaneously scrollother available audio clips in the audio database. This audio scrollingwill not affect their ability to continue listening to the current audioselection. In these cases, the top-display, FIG. 68A, element 1502 andfront display, FIG. 68B, display element 1676, change to reflect theaudio addresses that the Seeker 999 is now scrolling through. Ifscrolling stops for more than 5 seconds and no audio clip is selected,the display elements 1502 and 1676 will revert back to the previouslyselected audio clip.

The Help Key 1313, FIG. 69 toggles between having the Help Menu on theFront Display, the status area, or neither. If a Seeker holds down theHelp Key 1313 for more than 5 seconds, this launches a short cut back tothe default starting point for beginner's help in FIG. 70A. Pushing andholding key 1313 down for 3 seconds brings up the A0 clip.

There is both an audio-database scrolling-mode and a text-databasescrolling-mode. The use of the front and side controls as shown in FIGS.65, 66, 67, and 68, effect what appears in the top display 1500, asshown in FIGS. 65, 68A, 70A, and 70B, and what appears in the frontdisplay 1600, as shown in FIGS. 65, 68B, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75.

When the unit is in one's hand, the front-face can be viewed andaccessed to perform navigation as shown in FIG. 64. The front display asshown in FIG. 68B reflects whether the audio or text mode is active. Thedifferent types of audio and text displays are explained later. Whilenavigating the text databases, the top display 1500, as shown in FIGS.68A and 70A, maintains the audio clip address 1502, clip name and clipdescription 1508 and 1510. This allows one to know which audio channelis still active while navigating text databases, except when the Seeker999 is actively scrolling other available audio clips as in FIG. 70D.When scrolling other audio clips, pressing side control 1322 will stopthe audio that is currently playing and replace it with the newlyselected audio clip that appears in display element 1502, FIG. 70E.

Text-to-Speech

Ability to Simultaneously Access Audio and Text Information

The system allows a Seeker 999 to simultaneously use both the audio andtext databases. For example, a Seeker 999 could be listening to an audioclip from the audio database, while searching for text information suchas a sports score, the weather, or a stock quote.

Retrieval and Synchronizing Through a Network

While a mobile TO-U 200 needs a connection to the network to downloadContent or receive updated messages, the TO-U 200 can still have manyfunctions when it is not within range of a signal or connected by awire. Audio and text messages, MP3 music and entertainment, games andtrivia, or any other Content can be stored locally within the TO-U 200and used later.

When a TO-U 200 enters an enabled site for the first time, the mobileTO-U 200 updates all the messages and menus for that site, transparentto the Seeker 999. A Seeker 999 can go into the “setup” function to turnthis capability on or off. With this function on, the system determineshow much memory is currently available within the Seeker's 999 handheldand transmits the appropriate menus for that site. If the TO-U 200 hassufficient memory left over, the on-site servers can also send the mostfrequently requested Content for that particular LCAP 1076.

The system can also predict the Seeker's 999 likely requests from theirusage from their history. If for example, the Seeker 999 routinelyrequests the score of a particular basketball team, the server couldsend this information in advance of the Seeker's 999 request. The servercould track more details about the usage. For example, as to when theSeeker 999 usually requests this information, such as only on the nightswhen this team plays, and only within an hour after the game ends.

This accomplishes a number of things. First, the current score couldalready be locally available in the Seeker's TO-U 200 eliminating anydownload time. Second, if the score needs updating, the Seeker 999 seesthe last updated score, while the system downloads an update. If thiswere the first time the Seeker 999 requested the score, the Seeker 999would not have any information available during this download. Third,the server can determine the likelihood of a Seeker's 999 request by hisprevious usage habits, but if bandwidth usage on the system becomes veryhigh, the system could limit the amount of predicted Content it deliversor temporarily halt this capability.

Disability Assistance

High tech gadgets typically have high development costs and extremelyshort product lives. Consequently, many high-tech manufacturers do notspend adequate time or money to modify their products for those that aredisabled. The FCC's Telecommunications Act has tried for years toencourage manufacturers to make all their products, not just one or twomodels, more user-friendly for the disabled. About 54 million Americanshave disabilities ranging from vision and hearing problems to mobilityand cognitive difficulties.

Since the system can provide step-by-step audio and text help, Seekers999 will not have to overcome their fear of handheld gadget complexityto obtain valuable information quickly. Consequently, the POD 170 wouldnot have to be modified to help millions of disabled individuals.

“DID”—Designated Information for the Disabled

Content designated for the disabled can have meta-tags (DID) associatedwith it, so that a Seeker 999 with a particular disability could sortContent accordingly. For example, a Seeker 999 with a hearing impairmentcould obtain Content designated for his needs, while a Seeker 999 with avision impairment could select from Content designated for her needs.

Some units can be modified with the ability for voice inputs to navigatethe menus or applications. In addition, the menus can be setup to giveverbal feedback or help messages, such as a voice prompt that might say,“you are currently tuned to channel ______ (A4, for example)”.

Street Signs

Street signs could be outfitted with voice prompts to assist thevisually impaired. The mobile TO-U 200 would in turn provide theseindividuals with such knowledge as to what street corner they arecurrently at and when it is safe to cross the street.

Hearing Impaired

Some TO-Us 200 could have audio leveling capabilities, so the listenercould preset a desired audio level and the TO-U 200 would maintain thatlevel for all Content. Filtering capabilities could enhance sounds orbackground noises that might otherwise be difficult for certain peopleto hear.

Option/Defaults: Save Drill Down Defaults

After a Seeker 999 drills down a particular way, the server can savethat method and use that as his new default. For example, if theyselected “Baseball”, under “Sports”, and then “Pros”, the Seeker's GO-UI199 would then default to those three items. Each appearing in theSeeker's 999 selection indicator in center of their display window,opposed to having to re-search for those selections each time theyre-entered that same level of the hierarchy.

This Seeker 999 would not lose the ability to choose other subjects;this just helps create a more convenient and speedier method for theSeeker 999. Otherwise, the selector in the display might default to“College” under “Baseball”, and they would need to take the time tore-position the selector over to the “Pros” each time. Under thismethod, once a Seeker 999 chooses the “Pros” that becomes their default.“College” however, does not go away as a secondary choice.

Reduce Latency

When a Seeker 999 first enters a LCAP, a beginning portion of the mostpopular audio messages for a particular site could all be downloaded totheir TO-U 200. This allows the Seeker 999 to quickly hear messageswithout waiting for them to be downloaded. The system instead, downloadsthe remainder of the message following the Seeker's 999 request. Thenthat audio clip is synchronized with the starting portion that waspre-downloaded to their TO-U 200 earlier.

Message Encryption

Message encryption is an add-on feature that allows businesses to sendmessages to designated people. Businesses can assign channels on theirdatabase that are only accessible through an employee's passcode. It canalso allow employees to screen their calls from outsiders while thecallers are leaving the voicemail messages in real time. This can bedone hands-free while someone is roaming the office, hospital, or themanufacturing plant.

At shopping malls, retailers can use the message encrypting to informemployees of sales contests, how to process returns, entering creditcard data, handling disgruntled customers, and for whom to call whenshoplifting is suspected. Customers/Seekers, on the other hand, couldhear about store sales, increased holiday store hours, how to apply fora store credit card, who to contact when registering a complaint, andthe store's return policy, for example.

Special Event Usage or “ESN”

The POD's 170 ID “ESN” or electronic serial number allows the POD 170 tobe pre-programmed with certain advanced capabilities or to have itsflash RAM within the unit upgraded permanently or temporarily at certainevents. At a Nascar racing event for example, event sponsors couldcharge visitors for the privilege to hear certain racing pit crews. Theracing fan could have their receiver's ESN upgraded wirelessly for thatevent. The next day, the event sponsor could charge for the upgradepremium service again.

Local Insertions

The LCAP 1076 can allow businesses the ability to insert advertising ornews at their site. Most forms of media already allow for localadvertising insertion. For example, instead of buying an ad to air onMTV™ nationwide, an advertiser could buy ad time for just Los Angeles oreven just a portion of Los Angeles. With this system however, a vendoror promoter can place an ad in a single store or in just one verticalmarket. For example, someone looking to advertise a new power tool mightbuy advertising just in Home Depots™. Conversely, a local contractor maychoose to pay for advertising in only his home town Home Depot™.

A car dealership for example, could sell advertisements on the system toa local car insurance agency. At a grocery store for example, the systemcould offer local area news. This news could be anything from foodrecipes to radio-type programs created by area high school students.

Message Retransmission or Rebroadcasting

The system could allow sites to insert their own commercials or Contentduring commercial breaks of a live broadcast. At a health club forexample, Seekers/club members could use their mobile TO-U 200 to hearthe audio signal of a television broadcast of the news, sports, orentertainment. When the commercial comes on, instead of hearing theaudio from the television advertisement, the club member might hear apromotion for the club regarding such things as:

how to become a gold member,

group exercise classes available,

diet programs and their associated benefits,

discounts or specials available in the pro shop, or

a list of upcoming club activities.

Recovery Information

The system could designate audio channels for helping a parent find alost child or missing purse. Instead of trying to listen to everydistorted message coming over the mall's paging system, this individualcould tune to a designated channel to hear lost child information.Another designated channel could list lost and found items and explainwhere to go to recover these items.

Track/Locate

If a Seeker 999 turns on his profile function before putting his POD 170into something such as his briefcase, the system could help track orfind the briefcase, if it were lost or stolen. A briefcase stolen at anairport for example, might be located if the Seeker's 999 handheld isinside and still on. This Seeker 999 could call the COPP, and/or themanagement of the LCAP could in turn notify the on-site security as tothe ESN of that unit. On-site security could then establish theproximity of the briefcase or monitor its movement within the enabledenvironment to help determine the culprit.

It is important to note that the system can be set to track the usage ofa mobile TO-U 200 not necessarily the usage of a particular person. Whena Seeker 999 requests audio on-demand, that request is tabulated intothat message's popularity, and how often it is requested by that TO-U200, but that data is not then necessarily tied to an individual'spersonal identity. In the case of the stolen briefcase, the Seeker 999is calling to identify himself and a particular POD 170 that can then belocated using the POD's 170 ESN and using the occasional pings emittedfrom that particular POD 170.

Defaults

At any given level in a text-database, graphic-database, or anaudio-database search there is a pre-determined default selection thatappears in the display of the Seeker's mobile TO-U 200. The defaultshown at any level of a hierarchy or menu can change over time due tousage statistics or it can be preset to change with certain conditions.

At a trade show for example, a Seeker 999 who presses the “locate”button on their mobile TO-U 200 would get a list of subjects from whichthey could make their selection. By default the selection might be“locate on-site registration”, because it is the first day of the event,or the database could show the most requested item among current Seekers999 at this particular level.

The database could be set up to give way to popularity over time, sothat the selection “locate on-site registration” might give way to thepreferred or more popular selection “locate an exhibitor's booth”. Inthis case, the LCS would adjust a Seeker's 999 future menuing structureto reflect this change. The next time the Seeker 999 requestedinformation “locate an exhibitor's booth” appears as the default.

These defaults can also be adjusted by the length of time the mobileTO-U had been in use. If it was during the last day of the trade show,and “locate an exhibitor's booth” was the most popular request at thisparticular level in the hierarchy, but the mobile TO-U 200 had just beenrented or the Seeker 999 had just entered the LCAP for the first time,“locate on-site registration”, could still remain the default for thisfirst-time attendee. The other selections, such as “locate anexhibitor's booth”, would still be an available selection choice, but itwould require the Seeker 999 to make an extra step using such controlsas the buttons or side tuner to select it.

Another factor for creating a default is the prior usage of the Seeker999. If the Seeker 999 has already used “locate on-site registration”,than even though it is still the first day of the show or event, thedefault could change to “locate an exhibitor's booth” immediately or atsome point later in that day, for example.

Audio Favs (Favorites)

Seekers 999 can either tag audio channels or messages as favorites ortag audio channels and messages to be removed from their availableselection list. For example, someone who does like listening to sports,could tune to the sports audio heading at S-zero and press the “Favs”button. From there they can start to create a list of favorite channelsor remove certain channels.

If this Seeker 999 instead liked sports, but wanted to remove a specificcategory under sports they could move to that channel and just tag thatindividual folder or file for removal. This allows the Seeker 999 topersonalize their menus and speed up the search process. This favoritesetting can be stored under a keypad number for use later. This allowsthe Seeker 999 to switch between different settings, the originaldefaults (all channels available) and a number of saved favoritessettings as needed.

Favs that Change with Database Adjustments

If the main database switched the location of information that was partof a Seeker's 999 favorites, the system would be able update theSeeker's 999 favorites within the Seekers GO-UI 199 without the Seeker999 having to make the changes. For example, some television's todayhave the ability to create a text label for each channel using theremote. This label may appear as a short text message on the screenwhile the Seeker 999 surf through the channels. That way the seeker hasthe name of the channel to references as she tries to find herselection. A problem arises when the local cable provider changes thechannel line-up and these labels said Seeker 999 has assigned are nolonger accurate.

With the system, the Seeker's 999 favorites could have a time-stampedheader associated with each favorite the Seeker saves. When the Seeker'sTO-U 200 enters LCAP with updated or changed channels, the Seekers GO-UIfavorites could be updated automatically without the Seeker 999 evenknowing the Seeker's GO-UI could prompt the Seeker 999 for the approvalto make the update before completing the change.

Seeker 999 Feedback

Besides being able to vote with the numeric keypad, Seekers 999 coulduse the side tuner to show their level of support for a particularsubject. During a presentation for example, a Seeker 999 could push thejog-rocker or trackwheel up if they supported the position of thepresenter or they could push the jog-rocker or trackwheel down if theydisapproved of the presenter's current position. This feedback couldchange over time and change in degree. This feedback could be shown as agraphic within the Seeker's own mobile TO-U 200. The more the Seekeragreed or disagreed the more the Seeker would turn the jog-rocker ortrackwheel, or until it peaked out. This information could then besynchronized up with the presentation to analyze the Seeker's 999feedback, to compare with a larger group, or to combine with a largersampling. This collective group feedback could be feed to a database foruse later, shown in real-time behind the presenter, or shown on selectedTO-Us 200.

Narrowing the Field with User Feedback

A group of Seekers 999 could be polled on a variety of subjects tocreate a consensus. For example, the first question put to the groupcould ask them to rank ten items from one to ten in their importance(ten being the most important). Then those results could eliminate thebottom five choices and then the group could vote again to create asingle solution, narrow the field again, or a group of solutions.

Sharing Information

When a Seeker 999 finds information on the system that he wants to sharewith others, he can do a number of things with that information. Hecould save the message within his mobile TO-U's 200 memory and play itfor the intended-other-party later or he could request that saidinformation be sent to another Seeker 999:

within that same LCAP or event,

in another location using the system network,

via IP as an email, text message, or voice message using the system oranother source,

via other modes such as: telephone landlines, cellular, radiofrequencies, infrared, Internet, or satellite.

In addition, these messages could be tagged with the first Seeker's 999personal comments or opinions, in text or verbal, so the other partyknows who sent the information and to what it references.

This information could also be stamped with a number of other tags suchas: the time it was retrieved by the first Seeker 999, the location, thevenue found at, who is the speaker of the information, who paid forplacing the information, how much the advertising placer paid to placeit, how long the information has been posted, when it was last updated,if there is a URL link, how popular the information is relevant to otherinformation at that site or for that speaker, and other metrics such ashow many other have requested that same information. Once theinformation has been sent to the other party, the first Seeker 999 couldthen be notified as to when it was received, where it was received, andany feedback, in text or verbal, from the other party.

Inventory Availability

The COPP can be updated with inventory availability for a number ofitems, such as retail items, manufacturing items, hotel rooms, exhibitorbooths for future shows, hospital beds, airline seats, classes on acollege campus, or tables in a restaurant. This inventory can be updatedand revised from a number of sources, including a mobile TO-U 200 usedby employees such as a sales person, stock clerk, desk clerk, trade showdirector, admissions clerk, ticket agent, school administrator, orrestaurant host.

While shopping a Seeker's mobile TO-U 200 could allow him to select aform of payment and delivery. The TO-U could list such things asdelivery methods, the amount of time needed, and the associated costs ofeach. This Seeker 999 could also see a list of available delivery daysto the Seeker's neighborhood, city, or area.

Advertisers

Advertisers and promoters can create advertising messages that fall in awide range of categories for a wide range of potential customers. Thiswould allow a Seeker 999 to select the level and amount of detail theseeker wanted in the Seeker's advertising information, such as: highlytechnical, cost savings, ease-of-use, lifestyle benefits, environmentalfriendly issues, etc. Advertisements can be billed by a number ofmethods, such as the amount of requests made by the Seekers 999 forselecting a particular promotion, the number of overall Seekers 999 onthe system, by the actual sales volume, or by the percentage of salesincreased with the system on verses off.

ID Time Stamping

The system can be setup with user IDs for tracking employee usage andtime stamping their workflow. In a manufacturing environment forexample, the management could monitor the time the employee started bysimply referencing the system usage on the database. In addition, thesystem could track information about the employee such as what theyrequested, when they took breaks, and when they stopped working. Thisusage metering could also show areas where the employee needs trainingor it could monitor their progress by noting what help messages theyrequested and how that requested help has reduced over time.

Remote Content Contributors

Virtually anyone with Internet access can contribute or update Contenton the system from anywhere in the world. Information can also beupdated with on-site computers, handheld wireless TO-Us 200, and bytelephones. Some channels or sections of information will require apassword to be able to contribute or update. Some Content will gothrough a human screening process and/or a software screening process.This software will screen the text and audio messages for such things aspoor grammar, spelling errors, trade names, people's names, and anyoffensive language or insults.

LCAPS would be free to have uncensored Content within their controllableenvironments. If they choice to release unfiltered material, the LCAPSwould need to be responsible for its Content and the effect it has onits business.

Not all Content has to be sent over the Internet or typed in on akeyboard. The software will allow Content providers to contribute andupdate information via such things as telephones. A hotel desk clerk forexample, could call a designated phone number and enter their currentroom availability by answering questions with the keypad on theirtelephone.

In some cases, the computerized system could call the hotel andautomatically request a password and go through a short series ofquestions to update their room inventory. The system would score howwell the different hotels kept this information up-to-date, and couldremove motels that abuse or fail to maintain accurate inventory data onthe system. Ideally these hotels would have computerized systems thatwould be kept in synchronization with the COPP.

Content—Spam/Porn

The ability for anyone to contribute Content to the Internet can be bothbad and good. Many applications have made attempt to filter such Contentas pornography or spam, but this is very difficult to perfect. Since theservice is transmitted locally from those businesses or LCAPS thatutilize the system, the LCAPS are held accountable for the Content.

Similar to the Internet, virtually anyone can contribute Content to thenetwork. But unlike the Internet, the software allows the CAPS to censorthe Content they deliver. If the LCAP does not want to transmit certainmaterial, they can deselect it from the list of information available totheir Seekers 999 at said LCAPS site or said LCAP can restrict the timeof day that it is available.

At a school for example, the system may not offer any music, sports,entertainment or game channels during school hours. Certain channelsmight only be available to teachers or only in certain areas. Ifnecessary, the system could be completely shut off, for such times asduring finals.

Description of Another Embodiment for the Distribution Subsystem

Infrared Transceivers and User Location Tracking

Some information could be transmitted to a wireless mobile TO-U 200using infrared transceivers. Compared to radio frequencies, infraredsignal transmission can be limited by line-of-sight, but this can bebeneficial when trying to place a multitude of transceivers in a limitedarea. At a trade show for example, two transceivers transmittinginformation on the same frequency or channel could be located relativelyclose to one another without interfering. These two transmitters couldeven be located in the same exhibitor's booth. Each transceiver wouldhave the ability to determine which Seekers 999 were within its range.This capability helps track Seeker 999 locations and the density ofSeekers 999. This locating ability through signal strength measurementsor triangulation methods helps the system provide the Seeker 999information more relevant to their location, without forcing the Seeker999 to physically enter their present location into their mobile TO-U200 or without employing third-party tracking.

These infrared transceivers transmission could co-exist in anenvironment with radio frequency transmitters. By overlaying radiofrequencies, the enabled site could add channels that have a widerrange. This would allow Seekers 999 to have channels that change fromdisplay to display, while also having channels of information that wouldbe maintained as they moved throughout a large environment or venue.

The Seeker 999 could setup their mobile TO-U 200 to always accept thestrongest transmission signal. This would allow the Seeker 999 to moveabout LCAP without having to manually switch channels as they moveabout, yet they would still be able to constantly obtain new informationrelevant to the new location(s) similar to Tour Mode. This informationcould be transmitted to the Seeker's 999 mobile TO-U in a number ofmanners, including: transmitted, buffered for requested playback, orautomatically streamed and played; or it could be a live signal thatthey join in progress. With speech commands these messages could berequested hands free or the Seeker 999 could be prompted with suchthings as voice messages, vibrations, flashing lights, tones, or textthat a particular message or certain information is available and if theSeeker wants to use it now or save it.

1. A method of providing product information inside of a retail store,wherein the retail store contains a large number of products, the methodcomprising: providing one or more respective locations of pluralproducts in the retail store, wherein at least some of the products arelocated in plural locations; receiving from a device an identificationof a selected product; identifying an initial location of the device;generating a map from the initial location to a predictive location ofthe selected product; identifying a second location of the device; andupdating the map based upon the second location.
 2. A method ofgenerating information inside of a retail store, the method comprising:receiving from at least one device an identification of information;identifying at least one location of the at least one device; andgenerating a map of the at least one location, wherein the map is apredictive location of the identification of information.
 3. A method ofproviding information inside of a retail store, the method comprising:providing one or more respective locations in the retail store;receiving from a device an identification of information about the oneor more respective locations; identifying an initial location of thedevice; and generating at least one map, including a center, of the oneor more respective locations.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein theidentification of information outside the at least one map, shifts thecenter, generating at least a second map.
 5. The method of claim 3,wherein the one or more respective locations are comprised of one ofproducts, departments, and sections within the retail store.
 6. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the device is mobile.
 7. A method ofproviding to a user proximity based information on a mobile device, themethod comprising: tracking a current location of the mobile device;providing proximity based information based on a set of conditions; andalerting the user if the current location of the mobile device is withina defined proximity to the information, wherein the alert is selectedfrom the group comprising a visual display, an audio message, andvibration of the mobile device.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein theinformation contains an x, y and z coordinate.
 9. The method of claim 7,including receiving an identification of an at least one item ofinterest to the user.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the definedproximity is established by the user.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the defined proximity is based in a local environment.
 12. Amethod of providing information, the method comprising: receiving one ormore locations from one or more mobile devices; identifying said one ormore locations of said one or more mobile devices; and generating one ormore coordinates of said one or more locations.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein said one or more coordinates are comprised of a time delaycomponent.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said one or morecoordinates are represented by a color scheme based on user factors.